Journey to Quarantine
by Qualifa
Summary: March 24th, 2017. The day it started. The day things changed. The day we changed. The day life as we know it had changed. It affected the entire world. A pandemic, often rumored. Never expected to become a reality. In response to this crisis, the government set up an escape route out of the country. The only avenue of departure. They call it the Quarantine Zone.
1. Prologue

**Author Note:** Greetings! I hope you enjoy my story, and its progress I will be making on it. I will continually post more and more over time. Admittedly, I've always been interested in the zombie apocalypse. Whether it be watching TV shows/movies, reading novels, or playing video games; it has always been a topic that has.. fascinated me. Thus, I have decided to step up to the plate, to take my chances to write a fan-fiction story of my own. Enjoy, survivors!

(Moreover, my prologue is an extension of the events of the main characters' lives, three days prior to the apocalypse.)

**PROLOGUE**

_"March 20th, 2017. The day it started. The day things changed. The day we changed. The day life as we know it had changed. Every day before that day, life was good. He enjoyed life. He spent his life in joy. He not once spent it in vain. He enjoyed it. The only reason he pressed on was for those he cared about. He would be defeated if he lost all of them. Without them, he is nothing. He is nobody. Without them. Them._

_In the end, it all added up to nothing. So many died, but for what? The lives they could have lived certainly could have turned out better. Without a doubt. Instead, their lives were thrown to waste. I understand that I'm not a saint, as my original objective was the basis of destruction. However, I am recuperating from that evil. My goal is now beautiful. My first venture wasn't a grand success, but I did manage to save a few people. Next time, I'll save more. And more. Until none of them die. None of them. Them._

_When I look back, I realize I could have gone at this with a different approach. Although, I wouldn't have it start out any other way. With each death I witnessed, farther deep down I would realize how divine the human soul is. If it weren't for him and the rest, I would not be here. I would be out still obeying my ties to the Motherland. But now, I am a different man. This pandemic has changed all of us. We all are different now. The world is now a different place. I shall do my best to make the best of it. I'll be the guide of the innocent souls to the doorway of safety. I shall lend a helping hand for those who need it. For them, not me. For them. And them alone. Them._

_This simply reminds me that destiny is a funny thing. They say in this country you choose your own destiny. Back in the motherland, they say your destiny is decided the moment of your birth. If it were so, was I perhaps destined to save all of these? Or was I destined to destroy them instead? Either way, my destiny leads to saving them. Technically, I'm going against orders of the motherland this entire time. I doubt the motherland decided to have my destiny lead into betrayal of its own. Therefore, I have faith. I have faith in the destiny of this country. The destiny that we decide. The destiny that only we decide, without any major factors barging in to alter the destiny. I've allowed that to happen every single day of my life._

_However, that came to an end. On March 20th, 2017, my destiny was changed. Not just my destiny, but others out there in the entire world. On that day, I gained control of my destiny. And on that day, I was nervous about going against the motherland's ideals of their preset destiny. But I did what I did. I chose my destiny. My destiny is now clear. Nobody shall cloud my judgment, thus my destiny, for even a second. I've got my destiny, and now I shall play it out._

_My destiny is to save them._

_And so I shall. I've come this far, and I shall proceed with my destiny. I shall do my best to save the rest of them. For them. Only them. Just them. Them."_

**THREE DAYS BEFORE PANDEMIC**

"Good morning Michigan!" a voice joyfully clamored aloud. "This is 99.7 GLM Radio, with your host, Charles Vandel here today to wish you folks out there a great start to this morning." Lev slowly arose from his slumber. He looked around, and subconsciously wondered who was speaking. After looking to his side, he remembered he set the clock. The radio host was speaking.

"March 17th, 5:31am, folks! To those of you who thought of sleeping in, get up! Get ready for the day! And now, our first song of the morning. 'He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother', by the Hollies." As the music began to play, Lev started to climb out of bed. He checked the phone next to him on his computer desk. He noticed a text message, from Emily. "I'll be waiting at my house for you. Heart." he read aloud. He set the phone aside, and open the drawers next to his desk. He grabbed a clean pair of white socks, and a pair of gray boxers. He opened the next drawers and pulled out a pair of blue jeans. Then the top drawer, and grabbed a plain black T-shirt. He also grabbed his usual gray jacket. After exiting his room, Lev started down the hallway towards the bathroom. He opened the door, turned on the light, and then closed the door.

Lev started to undress himself out of his night clothes. Old shirt, pajama pants, boxers from the day before. He then started to redress himself in the fresh clothes he had gathered earlier. He looked at himself in the mirror. His brown hair was a mess. He took a brush in his hand, and began straightening it with it. After spotting a bit of dirt, he washed it off of his pale white skin. He looked back in the mirror to make sure he looked fine. He grabbed the deodorant off of the counter and applied it to himself.

He came out of the bathroom and grabbed his textbooks and binders from his desk and carried them to his backpack, and placed them inside of it. He swung it around his back and lifted it by the right strap. He then walked out of his room, into the hall. However, realizing he left his radio clock on, he immediately spun around and walked back to his room. 5:45am he read. "Still got time." He said to himself. He turned around again and walked out through the hallway and down the stairs. He then walked into the kitchen for some breakfast.

There, at the kitchen table, Lev saw his dad reading the morning paper, as he did every morning before work. "Morning." Lev said. His dad looked over to him and nodded. He then returned to reading the paper. Lev shrugged to himself, and turned around. He opened the larder cabinet, and grabbed out the box of Cheerios. As he walked over to the fridge, he looked at the microwave's digital clock as he passed by. 5:47am. "Still got time." he said quietly to himself. It was loud enough to make his father look up from the paper at Lev. His father simply shook his head, and continued to read the paper. Lev opened the fridge.

He turned to his father. "We got milk?" His father looked up from the paper and nodded to him. He then cleared his throat, and coughed into his hand then. He looked back at Lev who was still patiently waiting, staring at him. He nodded slightly, and finally said "Yeah. Yeah, we have milk." he blinked a few times, and went back to reading the paper. Lev shuffled around items in the fridge, slid few containers around, and finally found the gallon of milk. "Right. Thanks." he said to his father. He looked back to hope for a response. His father turned a page in the newspaper. Quietly to himself, Lev whispered, "Or not." Lev grabbed a white glass material bowl from the cabinets above the counter. He opened the drawer and grabbed a spoon. He poured the Cheerios into his bowl, followed by milk, and inserted his spoon into the meal. He then proceeded to put away the cereal and milk. He picked up his breakfast, and sat across from his father. There, they sat in silence as Lev ate his breakfast and his father read the morning newspaper.

Lev closed the front door behind him. He looked at the clock on his phone. 5:58am it read. "I'm running out of time." he said to himself. Lev began to walk from his lawn to the sidewalk. He took a left and started town the sidewalk. He passed several houses before he noticed two girls. The two girls were sitting on the doorstep in front of a house. As Lev came closer, the two girls took notice to him. As the proximity lessened, he began to cut through the lawn, towards the two. The one girl stood up then upon taking notice to him. Her hair was long and was a mix of brownish-red. Her almost auburn eyes matched the color of her hair. Then the other girl stood. She was a few inches taller than the other too. Her hair was straight and long brown hair. Her eyes were unique bright-blue color, almost as if they were crystals.

Lev walked up to them. "So," said the auburn eyed girl rather sternly, "it's 6:04am, Lev." Lev looked at her. "Yikes. Please, forgive me Emily. Please, have mercy on my soul!" he said in sarcastic, yet joking tone. Emily looked to the crystal eyed girl next to her. "Krystal, what do you think?" Lev, as usual, thought of the irony of her name. She did once tell him that her parents were unsure of what to name her when she was just born. The doctor stated that she has the clearest eyes out of all of the babies he delivered. It was then clear to her mother what to name her. She named her Krystal.

"Let him off with a warning." she said and grinned. Lev grinned too. Emily couldn't hold back her smile and finally said, "Alright Levii. I won't have to kill you." Lev laughed and shook his head. He walked up to Emily and wrapped his arms around her. "What do I get then?" he asked quietly, but loud enough for Emily to hear, and Krystal. She then proceeded to wrapping her arms around him. "You know." She slowly leaned her head forward to him. He did the same, and they met in the middle with a kiss. Krystal watched silently. She rubbed the back of her neck with her hand as she watched them kiss. After a few seconds, she finally spoke. "Sooo... are you two just gonna make out all day?" Emily turned red then and pulled away from him. She looked over at Krystal innocently and smiled. "Sorry. Couldn't control myself." Krystal just stared and noticed Lev still had his arms around Emily. "How about you, Lev?" Emily looked back at Lev, and they stared into each other's eyes. Finally, Lev turned towards Krystal, but kept one arm around Emily's shoulder. "Sorry about that, Krystal." he said with a smile. Krystal grinned at them. "It's fine, don't worry."

But that wasn't how she felt. She was jealous. Very jealous. Krystal met Lev back in the third grade when she moved to Michigan. She was extremely shy around the kids she had never seen before in her life. However, there was one boy who decided to talk to the new girl. This boy was Lev. They became friends quickly, and by the sixth grade, they were the best of friends.

However, another girl had moved to their town in Michigan. This girl was Emily. She wasn't as shy as Krystal was. She was social. One of the first people she met was Lev. The two became friends almost instantly, much quicker than he and Krystal had. Although, Emily quickly grew affectionate feelings for him. Krystal too, had a crush on Lev. Sometime within the seventh grade, Emily began flirting with him constantly. No matter whether it were in school, on their school bus, or after school at the local playground. It was especially easy for this to occur, because she only lived few houses down from him. She certainly made it clear how she felt about him. And he returned those feelings. Eighth grade is when the inevitable finally happened. Krystal feared it would occur, and it did. One day at the local playground, it happened. Lev, Krystal, Emily, and another one of their friends, James, were hanging out at the local playground. Lev didn't say much to his friends at the moment. He was slightly red, and his breathing was quickened. Even once, James asked him if they could speak in private. They left Krystal and Emily alone at the swings. 'What do you think that's about?' Emily asked Krystal. She simply shrugged, as the inevitable had not crossed her mind at all. When Lev and James walked back over to the girls, Lev was beaming bright red. He was sweating a bit. Both girls wondered why. Emily asked him. James then pushed Lev forward a bit. 'You.' he said. He couldn't get any redder than what he was that time. Emily looked him with a puzzled look. 'Me..?' she asked, still confused. Lev nodded and exhaled air, and then inhaled much air, and exhaled again. 'Go ahead.' James said to him. Lev looked at him, and then turned back to Emily. Then he spoke those words. Those words that Krystal feared. 'Emily. Will you go out with me?' Emily then turned a bright red. She was speechless. Krystal looked at her, and then back to Lev. Her mind was blown. Her heart was destroyed. She was hurt very badly. She felt tears begin to form, but she somehow managed to hold them back. After at least a minute of complete silence, she cleared her throat. She said yes. Krystal tried as hard as she could to hold back the tears, but one escaped. She quickly wiped the stray drop of water from her face before anyone noticed. Lev and Emily then hugged. That was the start of their relationship. That was also the start of Krystal's jealousy of Emily.

Krystal managed to control her anger and fierce jealousy. For four long years, the relationship thrived. Krystal was jealous. Although, she didn't hate Emily. She liked her very much. However, Lev exclusively loving Emily and not herself was difficult to accept. She simply could not deal with it and get over it. She was somewhat obsessed with it. She claimed to herself everyday that she truly and sincerely loves Lev with all her heart, and Emily does not. Almost every single day, Krystal would see Emily. At the bus stop, on the bus, in homeroom, in most of her classes, on the bus again, and even on a social network website. Although, she'd treat her fairly. For four years, she had respected Emily, and not once called her out on ruining her chances with Lev. And yet, she remained deeply envious of Emily.

"Alright, we should get to the bus stop." Lev suggested and took his arm from around Emily. He readjusted his backpack straps. "Alright, Levii." she said flirtatiously and took Lev's hand in her own hand. Krystal shook her head slightly in disapproval at the sight of their affection. They walked down the street, hand in hand, to the bus stop. Krystal followed in utter silence. As they walk, Krystal constantly looked that Lev's and Emily's hands, held together. She wished to herself that he would have held her hand instead.

The group eventually arrived at the bus stop. Five others were gathered there too, including James Moore. He had a very short, almost seemingly a buzz-cut, black hairstyle. He grinned as soon as he noticed the trio. "Mr. Kingston." he eagerly said. He then looked over at Emily. "Mrs. Kingston." he said. Krystal felt her stomach drop, and let out a sigh. She walked over to the bench that was at least ten feet from where they were standing. She sat down next to girl with slightly curly, blond hair. The girl looked over at her.

"Are you okay, Krystal?" she asked, concernedly. Krystal looked to her, and shook her head, indicating negativity. The girl looked at her sadly. "What's wrong?"

"The usual." Krystal said, and let out another sigh. "I'm depressed as usual, Katie."

Katie blinked and said, "About.. Lev?"

"Yeah.." she said sadly.

"Krystal, you should know that this isn't healthy. You can't go on like this. He's always on your mind."

"That's just it. I've known him a long time. He was the first one to accept me here, and he's always been there for me. But when it came up in the end, I never told him how I felt. And then I was too late." she said. She turned away from Katie and looked off across the road. Katie shrugged, and rubbed her arm. Krystal noticed out of the corner of her and looked back over at Katie.

"Are you alright?" she asked concernedly.

"Yeah, I'm fine..." Katie insisted.

"Come on, show me." Krystal demanded.

Katie shook her head, and then rolled up her shirt sleeve. There, on her arm and near her shoulder, was a bruise. Krystal took a quick breath. Katie pulled her sleeve back down. Krystal shook her head. "Why do you let him do that to you?"

"It's fine. I made him mad last night anyway." she said, looking down.

"No, it's not. It's not fine, Katie. You can't allow him to do this to you!" she said, only louder.

Almost everybody there looked over at the two girls, including Lev, Emily, and James. Katie looked over and noticed everyone staring at them, and responded by putting her head down and covering it with her hands. Lev looked at them, and had already assumed what happened.

Katie had been the girlfriend of an abusive guy named Bryan Sorchelli. Lev recalled Bryan's last girlfriend, Sarah McKinnly. At first, the two were as happy as a couple could possibly be. And then, after a year of dating, Bryan started to change. He had become stingy and possessive. He would always need to know where she, what she was doing, who she was with, etc. One day, Sarah had enough, and broke up with him. That's when he hit her. Five times.

For whatever reason, Katie took a liking to him. They began "dating" rather quickly. Lev imagined it was only for a month before Bryan was stingy and possessive once again. Except this time, he'd hit Katie over almost anything. If he was mad at someone else, he would take his anger out on her. Everyone knew about it. Many tried to convince her to cut her ties from him. She didn't. Although she claimed that Bryan really did care about her, Lev knew otherwise. Although, as badly as he and many others had tried to convince her to break up with him, they tried to no avail.

The two girls remain silent for the remainder of the duration they had waited. Eventually, the bus had arrived, and the students had taken their steps onto it..

_"It was simply another conflict within their circle of friends. The typical teen drama I've heard of during my ventures. And personally, one should not care so easily. Now, the majority are dead. At least those kids were able to put aside their selfish lifestyles and set their priorities when the pandemic started. I guess that's really what matters now."_

**~z~**

They stepped off of the bus. After seven hours, they had their freedom. Finally.

"Walk me home?" Emily asked Lev.

Lev grinned and nodded. "Yeah." he put his arm around her and they began walking off. Krystal walked quickly to catch up to them.

"Hey, wait up!" she shouted.

The couple turned around and looked at her. "What's up?" he asked coolly.

"You know. I've got my birthday party tomorrow." she reminded him. She had hoped to herself that Lev remembered.

"I know." he said.

"You're coming, right Lev?" she asked, with hope.

"Yeah, we're coming." he said, still grinning.

"We..?" she asked hopelessly. She knew exactly what Lev meant by 'we'.

"Emily and I, of course." he said. Emily grinned to this.

Krystal was hoping that Emily wouldn't be there. She never had any personal time of just her and Lev for a while. Every time she invited him to some kind of event, he would have Emily accompany him. This only added onto Krystal's jealousy of her. She was obsessed, but she would deny any accusations of it. Or would have, anyway.

"Yeah, I... I know." she said, with much despair in her voice.

Lev took notice and asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'll see you tomorrow." she said, and turned away.

Emily walked from Lev and grabbed Krystal's shoulder. "You can talk to me, Krys. What's bothering you?" she asked with the look of hope in her eyes.

"You wouldn't understand." she said, and walked off.

Lev walked to Emily's side. "Let her go."

He was close enough so that Krystal heard him. Then to herself, she mumbled, "I'm sure you would, Lev..." Krystal walked off as disappointment began to flood inside of her heart.

"She confided to me about that. Though I wasn't very familiar with the emotions and feelings of a teen girl, I did tell her that there's more to life than love. I've never experienced it though. I'd hope not to. It sounds like something I'd regret later in my life. Regardless, she told me everything. And this was only a few days after we knew one another. It was different. But up to this day, I can safely say that she never got over her obsession. It was almost as if it controlled her."

Lev put his arm around Emily again, and they started walking to her house.

"What did you get her?" Emily asked him.

"Something she would never imagine." she claimed.

"What might that be?" she asked again.

"Well, it wasn't only me. I suggested it to her parents many times whenever she had me over at her house to help her with some math homework."

"Oh, I see. Hmm, what happened there?"

Lev stopped and looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"Umm, the gift. For her birthday." Emily said quickly, as if to quell possible suspicion.

Lev led them forwards again. "Right. Well, I constantly suggested it to her parents whenever Krystal wasn't in the room, for whatever reason."

"Stop hiding it, what is it Lev?" she demanded an answer for.

"It will be a surprise. You'll see. I think we'll all be in for a surprise."

**TWO DAYS BEFORE PANDEMIC**

Br-br-br-bring! Br-br-br-bring! The sound of Krystal's alarm clock, marking 8:00am. Her arm sprang from under the covers and pressed the power button. She drowsily arose from her slumber and rubbed her eyes. She slowly climbed out of bed. Out of curiosity, she checked her phone. Twenty-six messages. She opened the first one. 'March 18th, 12:00am: 'Happy birthday, best friend! 3'. It was from Lev. Krystal's heart immediately warmed up and she felt fuzzy inside. She slowly turned red and smiled. She sat there on her bedside and thought about it over and over for a few minutes. Finally, she set the phone down on her nightstand table, and gathered her daily clothes. Unoriginal bra and underwear. Casual blue jeans. A white tank-top. And finally, her favorite white jacket, to match her apparel. She carried her morning clothes into the bathroom. After re-dressing herself and such, she noticed her usually straight hair was in bunches and curls. She plugged in the electronic straightener, and began running it through her bright brown-ish hair. After that, she applied her make-up. She gazed into the mirror at herself. A beautiful, now eighteen, perfect teen girl with crystal clear eyes that sparkled brightly and happily. Her perfect white teeth smile only perfected her beauty more so. She put on her white jacket and stepped out of the bathroom. She went back to her room, to find that the time was 9:17am. "Whoops. Took me an hour to look perfect." she happily said to herself.

Krystal headed downstairs. The smell of eggs and toast overwhelmed her. Her father was at the stove cooking up some scrambled eggs. Her mother was sitting at the kitchen table, drinking her morning coffee. Krystal walked into the kitchen, and was immediately greeted by her mother. She sprung up from the table and rushed over to her and pulled her into a hug. "Happy birthday, sweetheart." she said.

Krystal hugged her back. "Thanks Mom." On that note, her father walked over to them.

"Happy birthday, Krystal." he said. Krystal then jumped from her mother and directly into her father's arms. "Thanks Dad."

Her mother smiled and walked back to the table and sat down. "So you are an adult today, dear." she said before sipping her coffee.

Krystal walked from her father's grasp and sat down across from her mother. Her father walked back to the stove to proceed cooking breakfast. "Yeah." she said, smiling. "I guess I am."

Her dad then spoke up. "So, we're having this birthday party, more so a gathering, at 5:00pm to 8:00pm. I go to work in an hour and get home at four. By then, start dinner, party time." he explained.

Krystal smiled. Today was her day. She was almost truly happy.

"Sounds good to me."

**~z~**

5:00pm. She had already invited her friends over to her house. She washed her hands, redid her make-up, and even re-straightened her hair. She wanted to look perfect on a perfect day. Almost perfect. The only thing that would make it a truly perfect and happy to her, would be Lev showing affection for her. 'A girl can dream.' she said to herself as she continued fixing and adjusting herself.

Then she heard the ringing of the doorbell. She immediately ran out of the bathroom, and down the stairs. By the time she made it downstairs, her dad had already answered the door. There, holding a decently sized box with blue wrapping paper matched with yellow stars, and tied with a classic red ribbon, was her friend Lauren Kadorski.

Krystal studied her. Her hair had an orange color and straightened down long enough down to the top of her back. Her eyes were sparkling brown. Her charming smile only made her freckles only more noticeable. Krystal then observed Lauren's apparel. Lauren was also wearing blue jeans, but with a few ripped holes along the legs. The pants perfectly figured her 'curve', as Krystal called it. She wore black tank-top shirt with the word 'Verozi' aligned around on her chest. Krystal assumed that 'Verozi' was a designer brand. Then Krystal looked down to her shoes. Her sneakers were pink with a white trim to them. Krystal then took a look at her as a whole.

"I'll be honest with you, Lauren." Krystal said, sounding completely serious. "You look better than I do." she said, and laughed.

Lauren then laughed as well, and said, "Please, don't flatter me. You deserve it, especially today, beautiful." she said with a smile. "Oh, and happy birthday."

"Thanks Lauren." Krystal said, turning a slight red. "You can put that in there. On the coffee table." she said, and pointed it out. Lauren nodded and turned into the living room as Krystal followed her. She placed the present on the table, and sat down on the couch. Krystal sat down next to her.

"Hey. Question." she announced.

"Shoot." Krystal told her.

"Look, I'll just start off that I know how you will feel about this, but hear me out."

Krystal nodded. "Alright. Go ahead."

"I told Eddie he could come over to the party."

Krystal looked to the TV, and sighed, followed by shaking her head slightly. "Why?"

"I know you don't like him-"

"He would constantly hit on you back in tenth grade. He's a creep."

"Come on, that's not fair, Krystal."

"Why would you invite him?"

"Honestly, he asked me about it." she claimed.

Krystal looked back at her friend. "Oh, yeah?"

"Look, I've known him my entire life. I understand he's not 'cool' or 'good looking', like us." she said and laughed. "But I love the kid, metaphorically speaking. That's just it though, most girls wouldn't even think of talking to him because he's a 'nerd', so to speak. I really don't want to suddenly be a bitch and hate him just because he's different and conflicted. But whenever I was troubled with whatever in the past, he'd be there for me, and not for purpose of wanting to use me for-"

"Is that what this is about then?" she asked, glaring at Lauren.

"Mark Lanton, yeah. He's a creep. Eddie, not really. I know, he has some 'feelings' for me because of my looks. But he doesn't try to use me for my body, like almost every other guy I've met."

"Right. No offense Lauren, but I feel like you're subconsciously bragging about how guys drool over the sight of you."she stated, in complete and utter seriousness.

"Sorry. How are you doing then?" she asked with slight sorrow in her brown sparkling eyes.

At the moment, another ringing of the doorbell occurred. Krystal got up and starting to walk to the door. But then she turned around and said to her, "Not good. Not ever." She turned off and walked to the front door. Lauren frowned at the poor response of hers. Krystal opened the door.

Lev Kingston stood there on the patio. He was wearing blue jeans as well. He wore a nice gray dress-shirt, accompanied by black khakis. It looked as if he did his brown hair well for the event. And with a smile, "Evening to you, birthday gal."

Krystal smiled and immediately hugged him, pulling him in tightly. "I'm so glad you're here..." she said, still pulling him inwards.

He laughed and hugged her back as well. "You know I wouldn't miss my best friend's birthday. Not for anything. Happy birthday Krystal." he said in a soothing voice.

"Thanks, Levii.." she said quietly in her best 'cute' voice. She wanted to kiss him right there and then. She truly wanted to. It took effort to actually prevent herself from doing so.

Lauren overheard the conversation and got up from the couch and walked over into the hallway. She put her hands on her hips and cleared her throat loud enough for them to hear. "Are you two lovebirds done hugging yet?"

Lev immediately drew back from Krystal, and he blushed slightly. However, Krystal was a bright red.

Lev smiled at Lauren. "Aren't you a kidder, Queen o' Flirts?" he said jokingly.

Lauren laughed at him. "Shut up! So ruuuude." she taunted.

"Only when necessary, ma'am." he said.

Lauren rolled her eyes, and walked back into the living room. Lev and Krystal followed behind. Krystal noticed that Lev was not in possession of a present. She recalled him just the day before claiming to have the best birthday present that she would ever want. And suddenly, she thought to herself that Lev meant his love. However, she scrapped the idea from her head, as she claimed it would be impossible for such a thing to occur.

Lauren and Krystal sat on the couch again, and Lev sat in the nearby armchair, kicked it back and relaxed a bit. Lauren took notice to him not placing a gift on the table. "Hey, chump. Where's Kryssy's present?"

Krystal thought to herself as if Lauren had read her mind just some time ago. She looked over at Lev.

"Not here yet." he said with a straight face.

"What do you mean it's not here yet?" she pressed him further.

"Hey, you heard me, Queenie." he said, in a joking manner.

Both Lauren and Krystal laughed. "Okay little Levii, when will it be here?" she jested.

"You'll see." he said.

And then, the doorbell rang again. Once again, Krystal arose from the couch and walked into the hallway and to the door, and opened it.

Derek Vankos. He was wearing his usual dark black jacket, which almost perfectly matched his scruffy hair. These also matched his black jeans and his black shirt with white skulls dashed across it. And of course, his black shoes with black trim and black laces. The only difference in his looks was his white skin that contrasted his clothing choice. That, and his dull brown eyes. In his hands, he held a gift rapped in black rapping paper, and a white ribbon to so along with it.

"Hey Derek. Thanks for coming." Krystal said, smiling at him.

Derek immediately put the gift box down on the small table in the hall and wrapped his arms around Krystal.

"Oh, hey!" she said out of surprise.

"Happy birthday Krystal." he said, still holding her close.

As she slowly did the same of reaching her arms around him to return the hug, she said, "Yeah, well, thanks Derek."

Derek then started slowly rubbing the back of her head, which naturally creeped her out.

"Alright, relax." she said as she pulled away from him.

"Sorry." he said as he grabbed his gift box off of the table.

Krystal led him into the living room.

"Derek, man. What's up?" Lev asked coolly.

"You know. Nothing much. Just at some girl's party. Nothing big." he said. He then tossed his gift onto the table next to Lauren's gift.

"Hey kid, watch it. Don't ruin my present." Lauren demanded.

"Hey, relax lady. That reminds me, where's your stalker and where's your toy?" Derek asked, as if actually trying to offend her.

"Derek!" Krystal shouted.

"Well, since you're so eager to go there, I'll tell you. Mark wasn't invited to this party. And as for Eddie, he's not my 'toy', you freak. He's my friend." she said, sternly.

"So she says." he pressed on.

"Alright, alright, alright." Lev says and stands up. "Can you kids cool it? This is just immature, you guys. Today is Krystal's birthday. And we shouldn't spend it squabbling about drama. Today is her day. Make it about her, you know?"

"Thanks Levii." she said with a loving smile, and then looked to Lauren. "I know you two supposedly hate each other cause Derek is a bully, but-"

Derek then interrupted, saying, "Hey! That's not cool either, Krystal."

"Alright. Sorry, but let's try to get along, huh?"

And on that note, the doorbell rang again.

"Try not to kill each other while I'm gone. Unbelievable..." she said as she walked to the door.

Upon opening the door, it was Emily Cormalle, Lev's girlfriend. Krystal's mood immediately sunk. Emily was wearing blues jeans accompanied by a pink shirt, with white sleeves. And her white shoes.

"Happy birthday, Krystal." Emily said, smiling.

"Thanks." Krystal said, trying to be as polite as she could be. It was hard, of course. "Everybody else is in the living room."

Krystal and Emily walked into the room. Emily and Lev immediately saw each other.

"Hello beautiful." Lev said flirtatiously to her after standing up from the armchair.

"Heeey!" she dragged out in a flirty voice. She walked over to him, and they immediately engaged in a hug and kiss. Everyone stared, but Krystal glared ominously at the sight she's been familiar with seeing it for the past four years. After several seconds, they began making out.

Derek's attention was instantly grabbed. "Woooooo!" he cooed out loud. "You go!" he shouted.

"Seriously." said Lauren in a dull voice. "Get a room."

Emily immediately pulled back from Lev and looked around at her friends as she quickly turned scarlet in the face. "Sorry."

Lev, slightly red, grinned and said, "I'm not." All of the teens, aside from Krystal, laughed at that. Lev sat down in the armchair, and Emily sat down partially on him and on the edge of the chair. She leaned over on him and rested her head on his. He wrapped his arm around her and rested it next to her right leg. Krystal glared as the sight of it took place. She even imagined herself in Emily's place too.

Derek then broke the silence. "So, now that those kids over there are done groping each other," he said as he looked directly at both Emily and Lev. Emily turned a slight red again and Lev smiled, "Who else are we expecting to come to this party?"

"Shawn Klossak. And Eddie." she said, in slight disgust, as she leaned against the doorway, with her left hand on her hip.

"Wait, you invited Eddie?" he questioned.

"I thought we went over that already." she said, glaring at Derek.

"No, we mentioned Edward earlier in a previous debate." he claimed, trying to either sound somewhat sophisticated, or just to anger Krystal. "But we did not mention Edward coming to this social gathering, did we, dear Krystal?"

Everyone stared at Krystal. She noticed that Lauren was just shaking her head with her hand on her forehead. Krystal looked over at Derek and said, "You seem to have a problem with Eddie coming to my party. Why?"

"Thank you." said Lauren quietly, yet everyone heard her.

"You already know what I think." Derek said and looked away.

"Yeah, we do." added Lauren. "You wanna tell us why now?" she asked in a sharp tone.

"Come on." said Lev. "You seem to have a problem with him, I'll agree. No offense, but that's strange. We're all friends with him. What's up with you?"

Krystal looked at Lev. She was actually impressed that he actually stood up for Eddie.

"He's a freak." Derek said. He then looked back at the group. "A freak. Understand? A loser. A geek. A nerd. He's not one of us. He.. he's just in our circle of friends because Lauren adores him."

"And what's wrong that?" Lauren immediately asked, glaring at him even deeper.

"Well, why do you people like him?" Derek questioned.

"I met him a while back, before most girls start to care about popularity. He's been a great friend from then until now. Why would I randomly hate him just because others don't find him 'popular' or whatever they supposedly think? How is that fair?" Lauren demanded reason to Derek's hatred for Eddie. Krystal in her mind, agreed with Lauren. She just finished questioning Lauren for liking him. So she was stereotypical at that moment. She now felt guilty about all of this.

"Alright." he said with a blank expression.

"Yeah, Derek." Krystal said, still looking at him.

"What?"

"I need you, Derek Vankos, to stop being an asshole. Now, I may sound like a bitch for saying that this is my party and such, but honestly you need to stop being a stereotypical asshole." Krystal said.

Derek then started turning red, out of anger. As he was about to speak, the doorbell rang. Derek grinned with a seemingly evil smile. "Speak of the devil."

Krystal shook her head at him. She walked into the hallway of opened the door.

"Hi Krystal." said the boy with short dirty blond hair. He was wearing black dress pants, a black and white striped dress-shirt, and nice black shoes. That, and he wore his signature silver lined glasses.

"Eddie Korrman. Hey." Krystal said, trying to smile as well as she could.

Eddie then held up a yellow present box topped off with a red bow. "I got you a present."

"Oh, thank you Eddie. The rest of us are in there to the right, go ahead in." she said, trying to sound as polite and sincere as she could. Eddie walked ahead, and Krystal closed the door behind him. She and Eddie walked into the living room.

"So," announced Krystal, "Eddie is here, guys."

"Hey there." said Lev.

Lauren raised up her hand, and wiggled her fingers, as if to represent a wave to greet him. Emily, still latched onto Lev, said very quietly; "Hi." Derek payed no mind to him whatsoever.

Eddie laid his gift box down on the table. Everyone continued to stare at him.

"So, you dressed sharply for today, Eddie." Lauren said.

"Oh. Yeah, sure. Thanks." he said, he stepped around the table and sat next to Lauren.

Krystal noticed that Eddie sat very close to Lauren. She grinned and laughed a bit to herself. However, the rest of the room was in silence. Nobody spoke a word.

"I'd like to take this moment, to break the silence." Lev said after a minute of silence. "It's 5:42pm. My gift will arrive at 6:00pm."

"You want to tell me what the gift is now?" Emily said, smiling flirtatiously at him.

"As convincing as you are, I can't. It's a surprise." Lev said to her.

"Hmph." she said as she looked the other way.

Lev laughed, and claimed, "No offense folks, but I think my gift will outdo every other gift here."

"I would argue," said Lauren, "but you've pretty much convinced yourself into believing that your gift is so truly divine."

Everyone, even Derek, laughed at Lev. "Well, you'll see. Good things come to those who wait."

"Waiting sucks."

"I'm sorry you feel that way."

"Jerk." she said, and couldn't hold back a smile.

"So, is this the party?" said a mysterious voice. Everyone looked to the arch from the hallway. There stood a boy with medium length brown hair. He wore blue jeans, a black shirt, and his signature green jacket, and his white shoes with the white laces.

"Shawn!" Krystal shouted.

"Yep. I'm here."

"You know, perhaps you should knock next time!" she shouted at him.

"Sorry. That's not in my programming."

A few of the group chuckled. Krystal instead crossed her arms.

"Come on, lighten up, birthday girl." Shawn suggested.

"Alright. You caught me in a good mood." she said, and smiled.

"Alright, thanks." said Shawn.

"Good mood she says." joked Derek.

She turned around and pointed her finger at Derek.

"Thanks." Shawn said. Krystal turned around to face him. "Hey, happy birthday."

Krystal embraced Shawn in a hug. "Thanks."

Shawn hugged the girl back. "Welcome."

Krystal pulled away from him. "Alright, everyone is here."

"Not everyone." said Lev.

"Right, my parents went out to get the cake." Krystal told him.

"Oh, them too then." Lev added.

"Okay, who else is missing?" asked Krystal.

"I guess you'll find out when they get here." Lev said.

"Lev, what're you talking about?" Shawn asked.

"A present." said Lev.

Lauren then spoke up, "He's a psycho. Greatest present ever. So he says."

Shawn shrugged. He looked over at Emily. "Do you know?"

Emily looked at Lev, and then to Shawn. "He won't tell me. The first time he won't tell me something." she said as she lightly pushed his head. Lev retaliated by lightly smacking her arm.

Shawn stood next to Krystal at the doorway. He looked around at his friends. "Lauren, where's your clothes?"

Lauren stared at him with a puzzled look. "I'm clearly wearing clothes, doofus."

Derek grinned. "I'd be willing to bet Eddie is sad about that."

Everyone else laughed in the room, aside from Eddie. "Derek, shut up."

"You know," Shawn said, "your parents would be highly disappointed in you if they saw what you were wearing."

Lauren laughed at him. "What's wrong with what I'm wearing?"

"Your clothes are highly revealing."

Derek then said, "You say that like it's a bad thing."

Once again, the room was full of laughter. Lauren flipped him the bird. "Okay, what about you Shawn? You wear that jacket everyday. A hobo changes clothes more often than you."

"Oooooh." hummed a few of teens.

"Come on now. You know I look great." he claimed.

"You wish." Lauren said.

"Why would I wish for what already exists?"

"Cause it really doesn't."

"That's what you think."

"That's what I know."

"Oh my gosh, shut up kids." Derek loudly said.

"You two are a cute couple." Emily claimed, still latched onto Lev.

Eddie rolled his eyes. Lauren then said, "Yeah, right. I'll pass. He's pretty dumb."

"Well, that's rude, don't you think so?" Shawn contested.

"Don't care. Why would you think I'd care?" Lauren asked him.

"Yeah, the jacket is pretty banal." Krystal added.

Shawn looked to his right. "Why would you say that?"

Krystal was about to speak again, but Derek interrupted, saying, "Hey, wait. Is 'banal' actually a word?"

"Yeah, it means over-used, such as Shawn's fashion style." Lauren said, causing the other teens to laugh.

"Ah, you guys are nerds." Derek said, still laughing.

"And you're the idiot." added Lauren.

"You're a feisty one today, aren't you Lauren?" Shawn asked her, in slight sarcasm.

"Ha ha ha. Yeah, you already know." she laughed and then looked to Shawn. "Get a new jacket."

"No way. I love my jacket. And hey, what about Derek? He wears the same black jacket every day." Shawn said, trying to defend himself from the jokes.

"You best not be making fun of me, boy." he joked. "I'd come over there and slap you."

"Yeah, it's kinda gross." Lauren said and shrugged.

"Oh, sorry Lauren. I was not aware that you're an agent of the fashion police." said Derek.

"I should be. This district would be so much better."

"Yeah, you'd cite us every day we wore something different than your tastes."

"You'd think you would have learned by then."

"Hey," Lev interrupted, waving his left hand to gather the attention of the other teens. "I wear my coat almost every single day. Let's bash me for it!" Everyone laughed, and Lauren just pouted.

"It would do you some good." she said.

Then, out of nowhere, "We're home!" shouted the voice of Krystal's father.

Lev grinned. "Excuse me, babe." he said to Emily. She stood off of his lap, and he stood up from the chair. "You can have the chair." he said, patting her shoulder. She simply smiled at him, and sat down.

Krystal's father and mother walked in the living room. "Whoa," her dad exclaimed, "I don't recall having this many children. Dear?" One or two of the teens laughed at the joke.

"No, they're Krystal's friends." her mother claimed.

"Ah, okay. I thought so." he said.

Lev then walked next to the father. "Hey, you got 'that'?" he asked, as quietly as he could.

However, Krystal overheard him. "Got what?"

"Your gift." he said.

"Gimme." she demand quickly and loudly. The teens laughed, again.

"Turn around, Krystal. Oh, and close your eyes." her father ordered.

"Hmph." She obeyed, and did so. Then, from the hall, came a man in camouflage shirt and pants. He wore black boots with black laces, tied tightly. His hair was brown and buzz-cut. A silver and gold dog-tag hung off of a green lace around the man's neck. The man was a soldier. The man walked up behind Krystal. The remaining teens were whispering to themselves 'who is that' or 'what's happening', aside from Lev. He seemed to be expecting this.

Her father spoke again, saying, "Krystal, open up your eyes and turn around." She did so, and turned around. For a split-second, she wasn't sure of what was going on. The next second, she let out a loud scream.

And the next second, she had her arms wrapped tightly around the man.

"Oh my God!" she shouted. Tears began forming in her crystalline eyes.

Lev smiled during the entire event. "Ladies and gentlemen, Douglas Belvemont."

Krystal was crying into him. "Oh my God. What are you doing here..?" She said between inhales of tears.

"Well, Dad reminded me your birthday was coming up. And your friend Lev had a great idea for a surprise appearance of mine. So I took my two week leave from Afghanistan, to come see Mom and Dad. And you, little sister." Douglas explained.

"Oh my God, Doug." she said between sobs.

"Sis, you're getting my uniform all wet." he said, and his parents laughed. "You're supposed to happy, why are you crying?" he asked, although he practically knew.

"I missed you so much." she said, still latching tightly onto him.

"I know, I know." he said as he rubbed her back with his hands. "Come on."

"I can't believe you're here. Oh my God..." she cried. While they were hugging, she looked over Douglas's shoulder. She looked directly at Lev, who was still smiling. She reminded herself, that he was the one to credit the idea of the surprise as the gift. From that moment, her love for Lev only doubled, or more so.

**~z~**

9:02pm. The only teens remaining at the party were Krystal and Lev, as Shawn was the previous one to leave at around 8:30pm. They sat outside on the doorstep in front of the main door. They spoke of the party as a whole. And that's when Krystal brought up Lev's 'gift'.

"No problem. I really didn't do anything but give your folks the idea." Lev said as he stood. "I gotta get going soon."

Krystal stood up next and to him and stared into his eyes with her crystalline eyes. She embraced him with a hug, and likewise with Lev to her.

"Lev." she said silently.

"Yeah?"

"Thank you so much."

"It's fine."

"No, really. It means the world to me. Honest."

"I'm glad then."

"It's just... I haven't seen him for months before today. And knowing that you aided in returning him to my family for a few weeks..."

Lev said nothing. He waited for her to proceed.

"It's amazing that you did this for me." she said as she hugged him tighter. She rested her head on part of his shoulder.

"Okay. It's okay." They stood there hugging for at least a minute.

"I have to tell you something."

"Oh? What is it?"

"Well, I'm not sure how to say it. I've been hiding this from you for over four years."

"Four years?"

"Yeah. And I think I'm ready to tell you now."

"Sure. What's up?" He tried letting go of her, but her grip was tightened.

"I..." she began turning bright red as she spoke. "Lev, I.. I... Lev. I... love you."

"Yeah, I know."

"No, I mean, like... I love... love you. As more than a friend. As more than... than... than a best friend. More than... that." she stuttered as she glowed bright red.

"What are you getting at..?" he wondered.

Krystal sighed. "I'll come clean with you, Lev. I've had a crush on you almost our entire time of knowing each other. And I began to love you shortly thereafter..."

"Krystal, you don't mean that. You can't mean that. You can't."

"I do. I really do..." she looked up into his eyes. She titled her head, and kissed Lev on his right cheek. However, he immediately jumped back from her.

"What are you doing?!" he shouted.

"What?!" she shouted back, scared and confused.

"Why did you kiss me?" he asked sternly.

"Lev. I... I... Lev..." she stuttered more as she looked at him with sadness.

"Krystal. I'll be brief with you about this. I like you. I really do. And I love you as a friend, and nothing more. I have a girlfriend, and I love her. A lot. I don't even... I don't even know what else to say to you. What the hell is wrong with you?!" he shouted at her.

Tears began streaming down her face. "Lev, please. I'm sorry. I'm sorry..." she began repeating.

"Pathetic." he turned away and began to walk off.

Krystal grabbed his arm. "Lev, I-"

He yanked his arm from her. "I can't believe you would do this. Of all people, you would have the nerve, huh?"

Krystal sat down on the doorstep. "Lev, listen to me. I'm sorry. Sincerely."

"No." he said. "Bye." he said as he turned away.

Krystal watched him walk away, and dropped her head into her lap, and began sobbing to herself. As he walked, he heard the sobbing.

Almost immediately after, Douglas came outside. "Heard you from inside. You still crying tears of joy cause I'm back?"

"No. Not now." she said through sobs.

Douglas's smile disappeared almost instantly. He sat next to Krystal. "Sis. What's wrong?"

After a few seconds of crying, she looks at her brother. Her crystal blue eyes were watery and her face was red. She had the look of major depression. "My heart was just broken."

Douglas immediately drew her into a hug. "What happened? Whose ass am I kicking, Krystal?!" he questioned sternly.

"I told him how I felt. And I impulsively kissed him on his cheek.." she cried.

"Who?"

"And then... and then... he flipped on me. I kissed him."

"Who?!" he almost shouted.

"Lev."

"Why would he do that?"

"He... he... he has a girlfriend."

He took his arms from around her and just stared looked at her. Her crying had slowed. She looked to him, with tears still streaming down her face. "Oh... uh, alright. Why did you kiss him then?" he questioned her, unsure of what to think.

Somehow, she manged to hold back intense sobs. "I love him."

"Come on Krystal, he's in a relationship, for how long now?"

"Four years." she said, as her eyes still readily produced tears.

"Oh my God. Krystal, why would you do that?"

"I love him, I told you."

"What do you mean?"

"I have been in love with him for the past six years, Douglas." she said as she began to crying more heavily.

"Oh Krystal..." he said as he sat back down next to her.

"What do I do?" she whispered.

He put his arm around her. "Sis. You have to apologize to him."

"He won't want to talk to me..."

"You have to try."

"I can't."

"If you're his best friend, regardless of this, you'd at least apologize for kissing him impulsively because of how you felt for this entire time."

Krystal put her head back down. Douglas shrugged and stood up to go inside. "We're going to church tomorrow. You can ask God to forgive you, and pray before bed too. Goodnight." Douglas suggested and went inside and closed the door behind him. Krystal sat out there for another thirty minutes before finally coming inside. Her eyes hardly dried, she was shaky, and her lungs hurt from so much crying. Her heart felt heavy, but empty. She slowly dragged her feet along inside of the house, and leaned against the door to close it again. She crept slowly through the hall to the stairs. She climbed the stairs, using her hands too, and eventually made it to the top of the stairs. She walked into her room. Her digital alarm clock read 11:02pm. Krystal turned on her fan that night, so it could quell the sounds of her crying more. She didn't bother changing at all. She flopped onto the bed. She stared up at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep at all, for the only thing on her mind was Lev. Half of her night was spent dreaming of being with Lev. The other half of the night was spent coming to realization that her fantasies were impossible fiction-crafted wishes.

Even though Lev now hated her, she still loved him. He was her best friend for the past six years. She loved him as a friend, and much more. She still adored him. She still wished for him. She still desperately hoped for his affections. She still strove for his love. She still loved Lev.

_"Her insanity blossomed. As we traveled, I could easily tell that her insanity grew larger. Not only did her feelings for him be rejected that caused this, but the pandemic too. That caused many to go insane. But her, she was different. At times, she was like a normal person. And other times, she was a psycho, so to speak. Looking back on it now just makes me pity her, especially all of the shameful steps that had gradually escalated to the climax of her lifetime."_

**ONE DAY BEFORE PANDEMIC**

"Wake up." said Douglas. He shook his sister's body. "Krystal, get up." he said. She wouldn't budge. She wouldn't react whatsoever. And then suddenly, she slowly turned over and saw him standing above her bedside. "It's seven. We're leaving for church at eight. You slept in your clothes all night. You should probably wash up and get ready." Douglas turned away and walked out of room, before closing the door behind himself.

Krystal slowly climbed out of bed. She had a mild headache and major heartache. She sat on the edge of the bed. She recalled her revealing her true feelings to Lev after six years. She felt near her eyes. Around her eyes it was a bit crusty and dry. Krystal grabbed a new, fresh pair of clothes for church, including a white dress with pink flowers marked on it. She walked into the bathroom and looked at herself in the mirror. Her make-up had been running the night before from the constant crying. She turned on the sink, and put her hands under the water. It was cool. She put her head down near the sink and splashed her face several times. Upon noticing the failure, she grabbed a dry washcloth from the counter and turned the knob for hot water. She lowered the washcloth under the hot water. She still had Lev on her mind. But she wanted to begin to travel down the trail of forgiveness. And to begin her metaphorical journey, she first wanted to apologize to God at the church.

Krystal turned off the sink and rubbed her face with the hot washcloth. After at least a minute, she looked back into the mirror. Her crystalline-eyed, clean-faced reflection stared back at her. However, her hair was a jumbled mess. She plugged in the electronic hair straightener and began to run it through her hair until it was straightened perfectly. She then began to change her clothes. New socks, bra, underwear, her white church shoes with a reproduction of a white and pink petaled flower on each shoe. She put on her dress-skirt that seemed to match the flowers respectively on both of her shoes. She put on her short white church dress-coat. Krystal looked into the mirror and for the first time, smiled. Even though it was a veneer smile, Krystal smiled anyway into the mirror. Her face was clean. Her eyes were the usual crystal blue as they always would be. Her teeth. "Dammit." she murmured. She immediately gathered up her blue brush and tooth paste. She opened its cap and sprayed a stream of paste onto her brush, and began brushing. After a few minutes, she turned on the sink water and filled up half of a small cup with cold water. She took a sip, shuffled the water around and her mouth, and spit. She then rinsed off her toothbrush and placed the cap back onto the tooth paste tube. She headed out of the bathroom and downstairs.

The smell of French-toast and cinnamon buns overwhelmed Krystal. However, she could not find her appetite. She walked into the kitchen, and there at the table sat her family. "Good morning." she said with a smile, apparently still of the fraudulent kind.

"Krystal, good morning." her father said.

"Morning." she said in a seemingly pure innocent voice.

"Good morning honey." her mother said before taking a bite of her breakfast.

Douglas stood up from the table. "Hey, what can I get you, Krystal?"

"No thanks, I'm not hungry." she said.

"Krystal," her dad interrupted, "you have to have breakfast."

"I'm sorry dad," she said with a frown, "but I do not want anything."

"Fine." her father said as he proceeded to eat.

"If you say so." said Douglas as he sat back down at the table. He took a drank of his orange juice, and started eating his food.

"I'll be outside." Krystal said, and turned around into the hall. She opened the front door, and closed it behind herself. She said down at the doorstep. She looked around at her bright neighborhood. The houses were of all colors, mostly being white, yellow, and blue. The sun reflected off of the houses. The grass was a bright green. Few cars passed by in the morning. She managed to keep Lev off of her mind for a few minutes, but it wasn't long until the thought of him returned to her head.

A single tear came to her eye. Krystal thought about all that had occurred the night before. Lev was surely angry last night. He showed that his devotion to Emily was legitimate. She already knew this, but she couldn't help but feel proud of Lev for not returning the affections. If he did, that would prove him dishonest. And she would now realize that she would hate him for it. Does she forgive herself? No. Does she forgive him finally? Yes. She now realized that what he did was morally righteous. And what she did was wrong and inappropriate. She felt bad for herself. That single tear started to stream its way down her cheek, but she wiped it off of her face. She was now ready to apologize to God, as she and her best friend Lauren always did, every single Sunday. Whether it was serious or not, they apologized for their 'sins'.

The door opened behind Krystal. She stood up and faced her parents as they walked out. Douglas followed behind them.

"Let's go." said her father.

Her parents walked over to the car. Douglas and Krystal followed behind them. Quietly, he asked her; "So, how are you doing? You know, with your conflict?"

Instead of the typical frown she had been wearing since the night before, she truthfully smiled at her brother with a legitimate smile. "I'm fine, thanks. I'm ready to ask for forgiveness."

"Good. That's great." said Douglas. "Now, what about asking for forgiveness from Lev?"

Krystal looked down as they walked. "I'm not ready. Tomorrow." she assured him.

"Don't worry about it. I'm sure you'll be fine, sis."

She looked back to him, and then forward. "I hope so."

"Well, I wish you luck then."

"Thanks, I'll need it." she said and shrugged. The family entered their family vehicle. Krystal's dad put the car key into the ignition, and started the car. He backed the car out of the driveway, and began to drive down the road.

"Radio?" Krystal asked. Without a word, her father switched the radio on.

Krystal tried to lower her voice even more now, using the music fresh from the radio to hide her words from her parents ears. "I feel like I'm being a burden with my problem by talking to you about them. I mean, I don't mind telling you what's on my mind, but you've been through worse, in the war, I mean." She looked to Douglas. "Right?"

"Yeah, it was tough out there," he started, "but I thought about what was waiting for me back at home. And what I was fighting for. Well, I've been fighting for you, and our parents. And our friends. And anyone else out there as well. And for God."

"So that means my problem are a burden..?"

"No, I'm sorry. Of course not. You couldn't be a burden to me. While I was in Afghan, I've missed you, mom, and dad far too much to even think of considering thinking of you all as burdens."

"Alright. Thanks Doug."

"No problem, sis. I only hope that you ensure you're ready to apologize to him."

"I am."

"I mean Lev." he said, looking over to her.

She looked at her brother. "I'll be sure of it. I still 'love' him, but hopefully now I realize that him and I just might not be meant for each other. He's found his true love. I don't want to possibly cloud his judgment. What kind of friend would that make me?" she shrugged. Finally, she smiled and said, "But I will tell him tomorrow that I'm sorry for kissing him. The only thing I can personally hope for then is Lev's forgiveness."

**~z~**

Lev walked to the front door of a house in his neighborhood. He knocked on the door. Meanwhile, he went into his pocket and pulled out his phone. He looked at his phone and it read the time as 8:02am. He really needed to tell her about everything that had occurred the night before. Lev stood there waiting. Eventually, the door of the house opened.

"Hey Em." Lev spoke.

Emily rubbed her eyes. "You'd think I would get to sleep in on the weekend, huh?" she said with a frown, as she continued rubbing her eyes.

"Don't worry, we can sleep then. But I need to tell you something." Lev said.

Emily turned around and drooped slowly back into her house. Lev walked in and closed her door, and followed her. She started walking towards the stairs, but Lev took notice and grabbed her arm.

"Trust me. It's important."

"But Lev..."

"Talk now, sleep after."

Emily looked back at him and pouted. "Fine. You're lucky I love you, or I'd give you no chance."

"Right, right. In here." he said as he pulled her into her living room. He led her onto the couch, and sat her down. He sat next to her and put his arm around her. "Now."

"Now what?" said Emily with a tired smile.

"Not sleep." Lev said and laughed.

Emily rolled her eyes. "I was expecting that. What do you need to tell me?"

Lev thought about how to say it. It played it over and over again in his head. He couldn't think of an effective way to describe that late night to Emily, without her getting ideas.

But finally, he decided to just wing it.

"Alright. Late last night, when it was just me left at Krystal's house..."

"Oh, here it goes." she interrupted.

"Em, shut up."

She then smacked him. "Way to be nice to your girlfriend."

"So we were outside talking, and she thanked me for thinking up having her brother coming home from Afghanistan for two weeks." he explained.

"Right." Emily said, and then yawned.

"And then Krystal told me she loved me."

"Loved?" Emily asked in slight hostility.

"Yeah. She said it was more than a friend or best-friend kind of love. She meant she actually loves me."

"Like, loves you the way I love you kind of love you?"

"Yeah. Pretty much."

Emily rested her head down in her hands. "What the hell?"

"And then she kissed me..." he said, slightly trailing off in volume with each word.

"Kissed you?!" Emily shouted in confusion. "What?!"

"On the cheek." he muttered to her.

"Why would she do that? She knows you've been dating me for the past four years!" she continued to shout.

"And that's what I said to her."

"What a bitch..." Emily said, after having calmed down.

"I want to know what to do. What do you want me to do?"

"What do you mean?"

"I was assuming you'd want me to stop being friends with Krystal. I know I'll still be peeved with her for a few days, but I mean when this blows over." Lev explained.

"But you two have known each other a while..."

"I know. But I'll do anything for you Emily, and you should know that. Tell me the words."

Emily sat there and thought about it for at least a minute. Emily finally broke the silence. "Lev, I don't want to force you to stop being friends with Krystal."

"You don't..?" Lev asked, confused, as he was expecting the exact opposite outcome.

"No, Lev. That's not fair. Her actions weren't right at all, and mine wouldn't be either." she said.

"For a tired girl, you're pretty good. Thanks Em." he said, and wrapped his arms around her.

"You're welcome, Levii." Emily said. And then they kissed. After a minute, they took their breather. Emily stood up. "Are you tired?"

Lev wasn't tired at all. He slept well and had a good breakfast. However, he knew Emily was tired. "Yeah, sort of."

Emily grabbed Lev's hand and pulled him up off of the couch. "I'm really tired. Nap time." Emily led him upstairs in her room, and closed the door behind them. Emily immediately just plopped into the bed as usual. Lev and her would practically be in a routine, whenever they would sleep together. Lev would sleep against the wall, and Emily would take the edge. She knew how much Lev despises the edge of the bed, for the reason of rolling off of the bed. However, Emily would rarely roll off of her bed in the middle of a slumber, so whenever Lev would be over, he would simply have to keep his arm around Emily. He would do this to prevent her from rolling off, just in case. And because he'd have his arm around her anyway. It was a normal routine among the young couple.

Lev closed all of the shades, so the result darkened the bedroom. Lev slipped off his shoes, and climbed into bed, and under the covers. He wrapped his arm around Emily.

"Em." he said.

"Mmmm.. yeah?" she said, in an innocent tone.

"I love you."

"I love you too, Levii..." she said, and yawned again.

Lev laid there. Krystal came on his mind again. He was astonished that Emily wouldn't forbid him from speaking to her again. He figured that she would. But now he assumed that Emily knew how much he cared about Krystal, as a friend. Emily took it well, and didn't personally think foul play of the ordeal. In fact, she was charitable about the situation as to being fine with Lev still being friends with Krystal. Lev readjusted himself closer to Emily and tightened his grip around her. He rose up slightly, and kissed her head. He rested his head back onto the pillow.

After a few minutes, Lev began to doze off into a slumber.

**~z~**

The car pulled over into a parking lot, already filled with many cars. The car took one of the last few parking spaces. Their mini-van stopped and parked in one of the spots.

Krystal got out of the car, followed by Douglas, her father, and her mother.

"Ah," started Douglas, "I haven't been to church for two years. It'll be great to be back now."

"I'm sure our community will be glad to have you back for this time, son." said the father.

"Thanks, dad. I'm glad to be back with you all."

The father smiled. The family walked around the church and to the front door. Douglas opened the door, and held it open for his family. He followed them inside. Standing in the front room, was a woman with short black curly hair.

"Good morning, Belvemont family." said the woman. She handed each family member a pamphlet and then she noticed Douglas as she handed him the pamphlet. "Douglas! You're home!" she said and hugged him.

"Yeah, ha ha. Hello Mrs. Sanders. Good to see you." he said as he returned the hug.

The family walked into the main room. It contained ten rows of seats before the choir booth, the organ, and the two stands where those stand to praise the word of God. Standing between them, was the holy altar. Light was brought in through a multitude of colors through the stained glass windows it shone through. Above, were several chandeliers that lit up the remainder of the room. Upon walking down the middle aisle, several people were seen whispering to each other. Douglas took notice, and in the middle of the aisle, a man walked out in front of him. The man's hair was black, but there were spots of gray. The man wore black dress pants and a light dress coat with a white casual shirt underneath. He held his hand out to Douglas. He looked at the man, and looked around, to find that the rest of the crowd was looking over. Douglas took his hand, and they had a casual handshake. The majority of the people in the church laughed.

"Douglas." said man. "Welcome home."

Krystal walked aside her brother. "Good morning, Mr. Kadorski."

"You must be glad to have your brother home with you again, yes?" the man asked and grinned.

"Of course. But.." she trailed off.

"But I'm leaving in two weeks to go back to Afghan." Douglas said, with slight disappointment in his voice.

"Ah. Well, I'll ensure you're spoken of today, Douglas." he said and nodded.

"Oh, that wouldn't be necessary at all, sir." Douglas said.

"Dad, come on, what are you doing?" asked a familiar female voice.

Krystal recognized the girl immediately. "Hey Lauren!" she said aloud.

Lauren nodded to her. "Good morning, Krystal."

Krystal studied her clothing, as usual. Her hair was much straighter and a brighter orange than it was the day before. Lauren was wearing a purple dress with a cotton white coat over it. She had her black dress shoes on too. She was also wearing her beautiful diamond necklace, a gift from her mother.

"As usual, you look beautiful." Krystal said and smiled.

"Thank you." said Lauren. "Now, come on. The sermon is about to begin, so we should be seated."

"Aye, I have to speak to the pastor first. Go ahead everyone." said Mr. Kadorski.

Krystal's family found a spot near Mr. Kadorski. Krystal and Lauren sat a few rows behind them, away from anyone else. They sat down next to each other. Every week at church, the two girls would gather up their worst "mistakes", as they called it, and apologize to God for having had made them.

"Whatcha gotta apologize for this time?" asked Lauren.

Krystal took a deep sigh. "I'm apologizing to God about something personal."

Lauren took notice to the sudden decline in Krystal's mood. "Krystal, what happened?"

"I messed up. Really bad."

"What? When?"

"Last night."

"But your party was last night. Was it because of Eddie being there..?"

Krystal shook her head. "No, I didn't mind him being there."

Lauren smiled slightly to herself, and Krystal took notice to it. Lauren then looked to her and asked, "Well, what's wrong Krystal?"

"Well.." she started, "I'm not sure how to say it, Lauren."

"What is it?" Lauren persistently asked again. Upon asking this, Krystal started shaking slightly and her face began to turn red.

"I... I... well, I..." said, as a tear formed in one of her eyes. Lauren immediately took notice, and put her arm around Krystal, and moved over closer to her.

"I'm sorry." said Lauren. "It's fine. You don't have to tell me."

Krystal put her head down to suppress the sounds of her slight sobs. And then, loud enough for Lauren to hear, she muttered, "I kissed Lev."

"What?!" Lauren whispered loudly as she took her arm back from around Krystal. "What do you mean you kissed Lev?"

Krystal rose her head up, and wiped a few tears from her face. "I kissed him, Lauren." she whispered. "I was really surprised with him managing to convince my parents of bringing Doug home. I felt amazed by the fact he managed to do that, and for me. I suppose then, my feelings for him only strengthened from that point."

"Strengthened? So you've had a crush on him beforehand?" Lauren tried to whisper, but couldn't contain herself in the whisper.

"Six years." said Krystal, full of guilt.

"Six?!" Lauren half shouted. Few of the church-goers looked over to the girls. Krystal then smacked Lauren's arm. "Please, shut up." she demanded.

"Sorry," she said quietly once again, "but I didn't see that coming. Not at all. I was always joking about you two being lovebirds, cause Lev..."

"Cause Lev has a girlfriend." Krystal finished.

"Well... yeah." Lauren drifted off as she said that.

"I know. It just overcame me. I've been in love with him for that long, and I've been sitting and watching him and Emily be in love for four years..." she said as she sank in sadness. "It's just really complicated."

"I can see that. But... I don't see why you would kiss Lev."

"Look, Lauren, I told you already. I love him." she said as her voice steadily rose. "I love Lev. But I already know that him and I won't ever be together. So I'm going to apologize to God first. And tomorrow, to Lev. Alright?"

"Sounds good to me." said Lauren.

"Right, now that we're done bashing me," she said as she glared at Lauren, "I'll assume you're going to apologize for the usual stuff."

Lauren shrugged, and said, "Yeah, you're right. For all of the hearts I've broken and will break..."

Krystal laughed. "Sounds about right."

"You know how to piss a girl off." said Lauren, and she laughed.

"So we're alike in that way, huh?" joked Krystal, and both teens laughed.

And suddenly, the talking in the room died down. The cause was the pastor walking into the room, and up to the stand on the left of the crowd.

"Good morning." said the pastor.

"Good morning." said the crowd.

"Please open up your hymn books and turn to page 307 as provided. Please stand."

The majority of the crowd already said their books in hand and were standing. Krystal and Lauren scrambled for their hymn books and stood while turning to the correct page. "Guess we should have read over the pamphlet." Lauren muttered.

The crowd began to sing the hymn.

The two girls stood up, and with hymn books in hand, sang along.

_"Oh, the stories I have heard from those kids. For some reason, they would mourn more about missing church than their families, those two girls. It was something about church, I suppose. I won't try to understand it. I suppose it's an American thing. But it's pathetic, in my opinion. If their God, had it even existed at all, truly loved his loyal servants, one would assume that he would protect them, for they are the children of God. But no, it's not like that. They said God damns a liar, but a liar thought up this mythical person called God. May they be damned instead. Regardless of the religion despising on my part, it ended the same for a priest as it did for the lowest example of scum that city streets would provide. The undead ate the scum without pity or remorse. The undead ate the priest without pity or remorse. And in the end, the undead got him. Again, the undead don't care whether you're pure scum or pure saint. They will kill you."_

**~z~**

Suddenly, everything was bright again. The darkness had faded away. The brightness returned. Color was starting to return to the room through his eyes.

He arose from the bed, and looked around. Emily was nowhere in sight. Lev crawled out of her bed, and sat on the bed's edge. He looked to his left at Emily's alarm clock. It read 9:52am. "Only slept for like an hour." Lev said to himself. He wondered where Emily had gone. He slowly got off of the bed, and staggered slowly towards the door. Upon opening it, he could smell what he assumed was the scent of bacon. As he traversed down the hallway, the smell became stronger. There was no doubt in Lev's mind. Somebody was cooking breakfast. He walked down the stairs and peered into the kitchen. There, he spotted Emily in front of the stove. She was cooking breakfast. Lev quietly tip-toed his into the kitchen. He slowly crept towards Emily until he was two meters behind her. As she backed up from the stove, he stepped forward and put his arms around her, and hugged her from behind.

Emily screamed, "What are you doing?!"

Lev kissed her neck. "Being romantic."

Emily giggled. "Oh, oh. You're not doing this now. I'm making you breakfast."

"Me?" he asked.

"Mhmm. Just for you, baby." she said as she looked up to her right at him.

"You're the greatest, you know." Lev said quietly to her.

"Just for you." she said, smiling at him.

Lev turned Emily towards him. They stared into each other, and kissed. Lev went off to the table and sat down. Emily returned back to the cooking.

"When did you start cooking this?" he asked her.

"Around twenty minutes ago. Woke up a bit before that, and I wanted to do something nice for you."

Lev grinned. "Why am I so lucky?"

"I want to show you how much I love you, Levii." she said cutely.

Lev laughed, and flirtatiously said, "You know how you can do that, in half or double the time."

Emily turned around and looked at him. "Nuh-uh, not yet greedy boy." She resumed her cooking then after turning back to the stove.

"So you're going to make me wait?" he asked.

"Oh, look at how desperate you are." Emily joked.

Lev rolled his eyes and leaned back in his chair. "I guess you could say that. It's been a week, and I've been craving." he admitted.

"I'm sure you can handle a bit more time."

"Honestly, I'm not sure how I kept control of myself yesterday at the party."

Emily looked at him. "Oh my God, you're gross!" she shouted, half jokingly.

"Only when you're on my mind." he flirtatiously added, with a smile.

Emily rolled her eyes and proceeded watching the bacon. "Well, you'll get yours after breakfast."

Lev grinned and said, "Sounds good to me, love."

Emily smiled to herself. "Alright, I'm gonna give this another minute." She turned around to Lev. "You want something to drink?"

"Sure. Orange juice, if you got any."

Emily walked to the fridge and opened it up. After moving items inside around, she pulled out a carton of orange juice. She opened the cabinet nearby above the counter and grabbed a glass cup. She poured it up to three-quarters full. She put the carton back into the fridge, and walked the glass to Lev at the table, and put it down in front of him.

"Thanks, love." he said, smiling at Emily.

"Welcome." she said.

After a bit of time, she finally took a pair of kitchen pliars and placed the bacon onto a plate, and placed it on the table. She then sat down in front of him.

"Thanks Em." he said. He took a sip of the orange juice, and then picked up one of the pieces of the bacon, and took a bite out of the strip. As he ate, Emily sat there staring at him, and smiling.

Halfway through the meal, Lev broke the silence, saying, "You've been watching me throughout the meal. What's up?"

"Just glad that you're enjoying yourself." she said, still smiling at him.

"Thanks." he said and swallowed some of the bacon. He took a sip of the orange juice again, and looked back at Emily. "You have pretty eyes." he said, impossible to hold back a grin.

Emily laughed. "Thanks, I guess." she said and shrugged. "What about the rest of me?" she said flirtatiously to Lev.

"You're perfect." he answered, almost immediately.

Emily began to blush. "Aww, you're sweet. But nobody is perfect."

Lev sat there and thought about his response. Finally, he said; "You're damn close, baby."

Emily laughed and blushed more. "You're too sweet, Levii."

"You're too beautiful, Em." he said, still smiling flirtatiously.

Emily was bright red by this point. "You're all red, you know." he informed her.

"I knooow, I can feel it. I don't know why! You're just flattering me and it's cute." she said in a voice Lev found adorable.

He took a sip of his orange juice. "I'm full."

"No, you're just trying to cut to the chase." she said, still retaining a perky smile.

Lev stood up from the table and walked to her side of the table and grabbed her. He gently pulled her up from the table, and into a kiss. They made out for at most one minute before pulling away.

"Well?" Lev asked.

"Alright, Lev. I'll really show you how much I love you now." Emily said, as she led him upstairs and into her bedroom. She wanted to show him how much she loved him. And so she did.

_"I recall what I was doing March 19th at 2000 hours. I was sitting on post with my partner. We discussed our boring and secluded lives. We could not talk to anyone outside of our government, or outside of our mission. Commander said he would personally execute us if we disobeyed his orders. There was one man in our system that told the American government some of the Commander's plans involving our spying business and agents within the CIA. His codename was Servoz. And he tattled a decent sum of information. Our mission was to capture him and bring him back – alive. Commander even went as far as threatening my partner and me. He told us he would kill us if we failed. And we believed him. He gave no mercy. Not to anyone._

_Anyway, my partner and I went to the District of Columbia back on March 19th at 0200 hours. We went to the hotel that the CIA was hiding Servoz in. After surpassing obstacles such as security cameras and guards, via using the air ducts, we dropped into his room. We had some sort of chemical that would knock out a fully grown elephant, so it would be no problem for that guy. And it wasn't. After that, we spent the next three hours sneaking him outside to our vehicle._

_My partner and I drove the eight hour drive back to our base in Michigan. Five hours into the drive, Servoz wakes up. Good thing we tied him down in the back of the van. He was cursing us out the entire time, spewing petty threats and bashing us for what we had done. My partner returned the insults, and insisted that what we did was righteous, and Servoz was the true bad guy. How wrong was he? I know now that what I did was wrong._

_But anyway, we eventually returned to base. We had a few guys help us restrain Servoz and take him to the Commander. The Commander wished to interview Servoz of the content he had revealed to the U.S. Government. My partner stood there on opposite sides of the room. In the middle, was a metal table with two chairs. Commander sat in one, and Servoz sat in the other just across from Commander. He questioned him very much, taking AT LEAST two whole hours. Finally, the final question. He asked Servoz, 'Do you regret revealing some of our secrets to the Americans?' Servoz, as expected, said yes and claimed he wouldn't dream of doing such a thing again. The Commander stood from his chair, and said, 'Then die with your regrets.' as he pulled a pistol from his holster. As he took aim, Servoz pleaded with all his heart that the Commander spare him. However, it was not good enough._

_Commander shot Servoz directly in the head._

_Servoz, who had died instantly, fell back from his chair and onto the floor. As blood leaked from him and drowned the floor in red, Commander congratulated on aiding him silence the 'rat'. Our mission was a success._

_But that's just the past. Now, everything is different._

_I decide my own missions._

_For them."_

_Codename: Agent Marshal_  
_March 30th, 2017_

**Author Note:** And with that, the prologue has concluded. Soon after this point, the fun begins.


	2. Kingdom Come

**Chapter 1**

_Kingdom Come_

"Good morning from 99.7 GLM Radio Station!" the radio clock blurted. Lev slowly arose from the bed and rubbed his eyes as he moved to the edge of his bed.

"This is your host, Charles Vandel, hoping to start off your dreary Monday and warp it into a happy start!" 'Yeah, right.' Lev thought to himself in sarcasm as he sat on the edge of his bed, still coming to. He started to get up and slowly walk over to his clothing dressers.

"It's March 20th, 5:31am, folks. Rise and shine!" the radio host blurted out even more.

"Oh, shut up." Lev said to his radio clock, "I'm up."

"And to kick off this beautiful Monday morning, we'll play Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen."

"Not bad." said Lev, as the music began to play.

Lev gathered up a black AC/DC shirt, blue jeans, socks, generic boxers, and his typical gray jacket. He went into the bathroom as the music played. Lev undressed himself and turned on the shower water. He hopped in, and washed himself thoroughly. Not only did the water wake him from his droopiness, but it also soothed him in a sense.

After his shower, he checked the time on his phone.

"Five to six! Damn it." he said to himself as he rushed to gather his backpack. He rushed downstairs and into the kitchen. He saw his dad there, reading the morning paper as usual. "Morning."

His dad nodded and said nothing.

Lev shook his head. "Right." he said aloud, and went over to the snack cabinet. He shuffled around for a minute, and snatched up a Rice Krispie Treat. "Should be good enough." he said to himself. He closed the cabinet and headed to the front door, and exited his house. He turned left as he did every morning. However, out of the corner of his eye, he thought he saw someone. He turned back.

"James?" he said, confused.

James was sitting in front of Lev's house, on the sidewalk's edge. He stood up and walked up to Lev, and said, "Hey."

"What are you doing here?"

James shook his head. "I don't know. I feel strange. I have a horrible feeling. A sick feeling in my stomach, man." He said, and panted.

"What are you talking about?" Lev asked, with some concern.

"Dude, I have no idea." he said. He was visibly shaking.

"James, come on. Something is wrong with you. Why don't go back home and rest?"

"No, I'm not literally sick." he said, staring at Lev.

"Alright. Come with me to Emily's house. I gotta go get her since she can't walk this far on her own." Lev said with a smile followed by a laugh.

James had no comedic reaction. "Alright. I'll go with you."

"Alright. Just make sure you don't randomly faint, okay?" Lev said to him in a half joking manner.

"Don't worry." said James in a quiet voice.

Lev knew this wasn't like James. He was a fun loving, joking comedic guy. Even when sick, he would still try to crack a smile. However, he could not this time. He wore a frown as if he now owned it. He looked as if he should be pitied. He wasn't himself. Something changed him, but he didn't know what. The only mystery is why it happened so early – the morning of the new end of their world.

"I tell ya though, I never felt this way before."

"It's a helluva tale. Ominous too." Lev said.

"Yeah, but it's the truth." James added.

"Did you have breakfast?"

"No." he dully replied.

Lev shook his head as the two walked further. "That's it. You're probably just hungry because you skipped on breakfast." he said. Then, he recalled the Rice Krispie Treat in his pocket. "Say, I got a Rice Krispie Treat." he said as he pulled it from his pocket. He held it to his side, out to James. "Take it."

James then said, "No, man. I don't want it."

"Say that now, but you'll be bitching about being hungry after it's gone." Lev said.

"No, dude. Really." James said.

"Sorry. It's hard to take you seriously since you're usually in a good mood."

"Sorry, Levii." he said, faking a slight smile.

"Hmph. Alrighty." Lev said as he opened up the Rice Krispie Treat wrapper. He placed the wrapper in his coat pocket, and took a bite out of the yellow marshmallow tasting treat. "Your loss." he said and began chewing the treat.

"Whatever, kid." James said.

"Yo, what'd you do for the weekend?" asked Lev.

"Me? I went hunting Saturday."

"Kill anything?"

"Nope. I almost did."

"Almost? What happened there?"

"A few inches off. The deer took off and was out of sight pretty quickly."

"Yeah, fun."

"Word up." he responded. "But I guess you can't relate."

Lev looked at James. "No. I can't." he looked back forward as they walked. "Shut up."

"Push your luck, Lev." he said, jokingly.

"I wouldn't be that unfortunate."

"Nah, don't worry, Lev. I'd feel guilty after kicking your ass anyway."

"Oooooh, good one." said Lev. He noticed that James was beginning to loosen up.

"I know, right? I worked all night on that one." said James

"Without a doubt." said Lev.

At last, they arrived at Emily's house. They began to walk up to her front door, and they stopped in front of the door.

"Okay," began Lev, "I want you, sir, to be on your best behavior."

"Good luck."

"You know, I didn't wake up this morning with the intention of committing murder. Must I make an exception, James?"

"You wouldn't dare."

"Probably not." Lev laughed. He walked up and knocked on her front door. "Hey, you got the time?"

"No, it's on vacation."

"Oh, great comeback, James."

"Cheers." James said, and finally laughed.

Finally, the door opened. There stood Emily, dressed in blue jeans, a green shirt, her usual shoes, and her black jacket/sweatshirt. She saw Lev, and walked outside, closing the door behind herself. She looked into his eyes and he looked directly back at her.

"Heeey Levii." she said in the cutest voice she could produce.

"Em." he said quietly as he wrapped his arms around her.

"Just kiss already." said James.

"Oh my God, shut up, James." said Emily. Lev laughed, and moved his head forward to hers, and they met. They began with a simple kissing to making-out almost immediately. James stared as it went on for at least twenty seconds.

"Alright, alright, alright!" James said, pushing them aside via coming between the couple.

"You know how to kill the mood." said Lev.

"Right?" added Emily.

"Shut up. If it weren't for me butting in here, y'all would have done some bad stuff right here on the lawn. And we don't have a good audience for that." James said.

Emily just stared at him and shook her, followed by slapping him across the face. "Get real."

"You know how to kill the mood." James mocked, rubbing his cheek.

Lev walked in front of James, and pushed him lightly back. "Hey, don't you dare. We gotta get moving. It's probably 6:10."

Emily took her cellphone out of her pocket, and checked the time. "6:07. We gotta get to the bus stop, guys."

"Lead the way, madam." said James as he held his arm out towards the sidewalk.

Emily put her phone back into her pocket, and then grabbed Lev's hand in hers. "Yeah."

The trio began their walk back down the way they came from, down the sidewalk.

"So, what did you crazy kids do this weekend?"

"Ask the girl." Lev said, referring to Emily.

"Hey, girl. Answer now." James joked.

"Shut up, James. But yeah, that weekend thing." she said and laughed. "I went to the doctor's Friday."

"Oh, was it exciting?" James asked, still joking.

"Certainly. And then Saturday, was Krystal's party. You know, the party you missed out on."

"Ah, the cute girl. I'm not really friends with her, yet."

"Yet?" asked Lev.

"I might try to get something to work. I don't know yet." said James, grinning.

"Nah, she's not interested in arrogant douches."

"Aren't you a great knowledgeable spirit?" asked James, rising in tone.

"Yes, sir."

"Bravo. What do you even know about her?"

"Good question." said Emily, looking to Lev.

"Oh God." Lev said, and shook his head. He took his left hand through his hair before putting it back at his side. At last, he spoke, saying, "I know a lot."

"Very descriptive." commented James.

"Can't please everyone." Lev said.

"You'll have to, just this once." said Emily.

"What are you on about, Em?" Lev asked curiously.

"Nothing important."

"Alright." Lev said, but he had a feeling he knew what she was referring to. He guessed that she assumed that he cheated on her. However, Lev reminded himself that he wouldn't dare. He was actually disappointed in Emily for assuming that he would betray her. Very disappointed.

As they proceeded walking, the clouds gathered in the sky and darkened slowly. Then, as the trio arrived at the bus stop, rain began to fall from the sky, resembling a drizzle.

"Rain." said Lev, as he put his arm around Emily, after putting her coat hood up over her head, to prevent her hair from wetting due to the rainfall.

"Thanks Levii." she said as she leaned on him, resting her head on him slightly.

"It's raining. You don't say?" James asked, in the usual joking manner.

"I liked you better when you were having creepy feelings." said Lev.

And then, Krystal walked by. She took a quick glance as she walked by, but looking back down at the ground. The trio stared at her as she passed by.

"I gotta talk to her." said Emily.

Lev then tightened his grip on Emily, and pulled her closer to himself. "No, you're not doing that."

"Whoa, controlling boyfriend. Look out." said James.

"It's complicated." Lev claimed.

"Alright. He's right though, it's complicated." she tried to convince James.

"Okay, fine then. What happened between you folks?" James asked in seriousness.

"It's personal." said Lev.

"Alright, I understand." James said. Lev noticed that James could sometimes be serious and sincere, and not always his carefree and jovial usual self. Lev notes he's rarely serious and sincere, but he would always be a good guy at the right times. Lev then noted that he found it strange that James was in a bad mood earlier that morning. It was very unlike himself.

Krystal sat there on the bench next to Katie, as rain poured on them.

"Put your hood up. Your hair looks great today. Should keep it dry." Katie commented.

"No." said Krystal.

"Sooo, how was your weekend?" Katie said, trying to avoid the subject of Krystal's depression.

"Mediocre." she said, blankly.

Katie sighed. "Alright, Krystal. Alright. What happened?"

"It's personal." said Krystal.

"Oh, come on. Don't give me that crap. What happened?" Katie demanded.

"I said it's personal. Understand?"

"Fine."

"But I'll tell you this. It was something bad, after my party." She saw that Katie was just shaking her head and was bored with her. So, she tried changing the subject. "So, why didn't you come?"

"I had to work."

"Oh, right..." Krystal said, remembering such information.

"Yeah, try it. Not fun, you know."

"Yeah, sorry. I forgot."

"It's fine. Working at Subway, what a life. But that's life."

"So?"

"Sooo," Katie started, "you shouldn't waste your life being focused on one thing or individual. I'm assuming your depression is yet again cause by that person. All you can is get over him, Krystal."

Krystal sat there, and digested what Katie had just said to her. After a minute, she finally spoke, saying; "Thanks for those words of wisdom, Katie. But it's hard. Don't judge me for failing at coping..."

"Bus!" James shouted. Everyone looked over as the large yellow transportation vehicle had approached coming down the street towards the bus stop. Everyone re-saddled their backpacks to their backs, and readjusted their books in hand.

As the bus halted to a stop, the teens gathered up near where it would stop. As it stopped, the teens went ahead, and hopped onto the school bus. Krystal went on first, and near the eighth seat of the bus. As usual, Lev took his seat in the ninth seat, behind Krystal. However, as he walked through the aisle, he saw Krystal staring with sad eyes. He simply stared back with slight anger in his own eyes. Regardless of the awkwardness that went on between the two, he sat behind her anyway, and Emily sat with him. James came up the aisle finally, and sat next to Krystal, for the first time.

"Hey cutie." James said to Krystal.

Krystal looked to her left and glared at him, before looking out the window to her right.

"Hey, I'm just kidding. If you want me to joke about you being cute, that is." James said, with a flirtatious grin.

Krystal did not look to James, and kept looking out the window of the bus. James shook his head.

"Come on, Krystal. Speak."

"Don't bother." Lev spoke.

At the moment, Krystal turned around to Lev. "Why do you care?" she spoke quietly and viciously.

"You've got nerve." he said to her.

"Fuck off." she said before facing forwards in her seat.

"Whoa, what's the deal here?" James asked in a joking tone, but was slightly sincere.

"None of your damn business." said Krystal.

James shook his head. "Alright, don't need to give me attitude, missy."

"Shut up James." she said, putting her head against the window, trying her best to look away from him, to avoid showing tears.

"Real nice, Krystal. Real damn nice. Take your anger out on him. Fair, huh?" Lev said angrily.

Krystal turned to Lev. "Leave me alone!" she shouted, and quickly turned back to the window. The majority of the teens on the bus looked back after this. Katie took note, too.

"Hey, stop it, guys." Katie half-shouted from the other side of the bus, loud enough for James and Lev to hear.

"She started it." James said.

"Grow up." said Katie. "Leave her alone."

"Alright, okay." He looked back at Krystal. "I'm sorry, sincerely. It might not matter now, but yeah."

"It's fine..." she mumbled.

At the moment, the bus came to stop. Several teens hopped onto the bus, including Derek Vankos. "Don't worry, my children! Your savior has arrived!"

At that moment, many of the teens laughed. "Sit down, schwack." said the old bus driver.

Derek turned to him and saluted. "Sir, yes, sir!" he shouted, causing another outburst of laughter. He turned around and ran down the aisle, as if he were a dinosaur. When he made it to the back of the bus, he sat on the side of the bus opposite of Lev. "Sup, guys?"

"Heya playa." James said, in a cool, smooth voice.

"Sup fool!" Derek shouted.

"Oh goody, the schwacks are making love." said Lev.

"Hey!" Derek shouted. "Shut up." he said weakly.

Lev laughed, and said, "Cute."

"Oh yeah?!" Derek shouted again. "Well, you're making love with Emily! Yeah, I went there!"

Lev chuckled a bit. "Scathing, bro."  
"Word up." Derek returned and nodded at James.

"That's my phrase, homedog." he retorted.

Emily then rested her head on Lev's shoulder. "Word up."

James then turn around to the couple. "That's my word, you know!" James shouted aloud.

"Word up." she mocked again.

"Alright, you're pushing it now, girl." James said.

"Watch yourself, kiddo." joked Lev. "You shouldn't talk that way to Emily."

Krystal rolled her eyes as she listened to the conversation that had been occurring during the time.

"Word up." she mocked yet again.

"Lev!" Derek began, "Your woman is making it personal."

Lev nodded and looked to Emily. "At ease, soldier."

Emily then smacked him. "I'm no soldier, jerk."

"Word up!" said James, confidently.

Emily grinned at him. "Word up."

James shook his head. "You love to kick a man down."

"Bully!" Derek shouted.

"Chill, schwacks. Chill." Lev said to them. He looked over at Emily, and his arm around her. As he looked that direction, he noticed the school seemed to come closer and closer. "Hey, guys. We're almost at heaven."

"Oh, certainly." said Derek. "The highlight of my day."

"Word up." James stated.

The school bus pulled up into a parking lot in front of the large brown and tan bricked building. It was the Kolamn High School. The school bus pulled up the curb where few other buses were parked that had already let out its students. The doors opened, and the students began piling off of the school bus.

As they walked, they proceeded with their conversation.

"Word up." James shouted.

"You seem to be hyper for a Monday morning." Emily claimed quietly.

"Word up. Well, might as well. I felt like crap earlier this morning." he said.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I had an ominous feeling in my stomach this morning, and I felt very disturbed, I guess." he said and shrugged.

"Disturbed about what?" she furthered with questions.

"That's just it, though. I have no idea. I've never felt like that before. Not ever in my life I have." he claimed.

"I don't know, James. You sick?"

"No, I don't feel ill. It was different." he said, scratching his head. "But I suppose I should get over that and such. Though it's Monday, I should look forward to making it a good one. You know what I mean?"

"I gotcha." Emily said.

"Word up." James said and grinned.

"Yeah, word up." Emily said, grinning.

"Hey, bros. We got a date with destiny. Today is the day we've been waiting for, with so much joy." Derek stated.

"Word up!" shouted James aloud.

"What are you on about?" asked Lev.

"Why, it's none other than Monday, the first day of the school week." Derek said.

"Oh God yes." said James as his hands formed as if he were praying.

Lev laughed. "You know you've been waiting for the weekend to end."

"Oh, you know it!" said Derek.

"Word up, brother. I've been begging for school to begin again after the weekend." claimed James.

"Y'all are some sarcastic jokers, huh?" Emily said.

"Yeah." James admitted.

"I want to go to bed." Derek said angrily.

Lev laughed. "Yeah. I wish we could have stayed at home today, you know?"

"Agreed, most definitely." Emily said.

"Word up." said James.

Emily glared at James. "You gotta slow down with that phrase, Jamie."

Derek then spoke up; "Word up to that, Em."

Emily looked at Derek and shook her head. "Yikes, what a conflicted life." she said sarcastically.

"That was uncalled for. Shame." said Lev.

Emily elbowed him. "Shut up Levii."

Lev looked at her. "Attitude."

"Word up." James repeated.

Emily looked to James. "Get help."

"Oooooh, sass." said Derek. "What a put-down."

"My heart is now shattered." James jokingly claimed.

"Make sure you drop dead due to that, okay?" Emily joked.

"Oh man." said James. "Harsh."

The teens continued to enjoy themselves as they walked into the school. Krystal followed close behind them. She knew she needed to apologize to Lev. And she wanted to get it over with as soon as possible.

The group walked into the senior class hallway.

"See you around, boys." Emily said, referring to James and Derek.

"Cheers." said James as he walked off to his locker.

"Guess this is the part where I stop stalking you, Lev." Derek said as he turned off elsewhere.

Emily and Lev walked to a locker. Lev rolled the combination lock, and after unlocking the lock, opened his locker. He opened his backpack, and placed unnecessary books inside, and tossed his backpack inside of his locker too.

"Alright, babe. I'm gonna head over to my homeroom." Emily said.

"Alright, beauty. I love you." he said as he leaned over to kiss her. And so they kissed.

After pulling back, Emily said, "I love you, Levii. See you at lunch."

As Emily walked off, Krystal walked closer to Lev's locker. He proceeded gathering up his necessary books, when he looked to his right. Krystal was standing next to him.

"Can I help you?" he asked, with slight attitude.

"Hi, Lev..." she said, trailing off.

"What do you want then?" he asked, without looking at her.

"I'm sorry."

"Huh?"

"I'm sorry. You know. About... about suddenly... kissing you..." she said quietly, and as she trailed off even more.

Lev stood there and shook his head. "What do I say?"

"Look," Krystal began. "I'm really sorry. Honestly. I was just honored that you did all of that for me. And I understand it's wrong of me to feel that way about you."

"Mhmm." he hummed as he gathered his goods.

"But I'm sorry for that too. I can't stop loving you, Lev. I can't.

Lev looked at her. "You have to."

"I know I can't pull anything like that again, though. Personally, you're a really great guy. And I feel bad for what happened between us. Honestly. Sincerely. I messed up." she said, with a frown.

"You really did. It's not like you at all."

"That's because I've been hiding it for six years."

"Alright," Lev began as he shook his head, and then looked to Krystal, "but why now? Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

Krystal looked down and scratched the back of her neck, and looked back up at him. "I was scared."

Lev gave her a puzzled look. "Scared?"

"I've been in love with you for six years, Lev." She looked at her feet. "I've been afraid to tell you, this entire time."

Lev shook his head. "Come on now."

She looked back up at him. "But that doesn't matter. Regardless of me still having affectionate feelings for you, I don't want this awkwardness. I want us to be friends again. I want us to be normal again with each other, like before. Before that Saturday of my birthday. Please, Lev."

Lev thought about it, and he personally felt bad about it too. He looked to Krystal, and into her crystalline blue eyes. "I forgive you."

A tear of joy began formulating in her eye, before she wiped it from her face. "Thank you."

"I forgive you." he repeated and sighed as he put his head down.

"Thanks Lev." Krystal said, grinning. "Well, I gotta head off to homeroom before the bell rings."

"Yeah, me too." Lev said. "I'll see you later, best friend."

Krystal smiled at him, and finally was happy. "Ciao." she said, and waved.

Lev grinned to himself. Everything was right again. Everything was just as before. 'He was no longer enemies with his best friend. It was a heavy weight taken off of his shoulders. Today wouldn't be so bad, he figured. He readjusted his books and binders in his arms, and turned away and walked to his homeroom.

He opened the door to the homeroom, and walked inside. He looked around at his fellow students. First, he noticed Lauren. She was sitting near the front of the room, being talked to by Mark Lanton. Lev wasn't surprised at this, as Mark would always flirt with her. For whatever reason, she would take it and complain about it shortly after. However, he knew that Lauren would not give in to Mark. Lauren knew that Mark only wanted her for one thing.

Lev continued and sat near the left of the room, next to Eddie Korrman. Lev looked at Eddie. He was sitting there, with his head in his hands, in sadness. Although he was constantly bullied by others, Lev considered Eddie a friend. Regardless of all of the crap people talked on Eddie, Lev and his friends still believed in him. Lev had to admit to himself, the only reason that he treated Eddie like a normal person, or even a friend, was because of Lauren. If it weren't for Lauren befriending Eddie those many back, Lev assumed he wouldn't even speak to the kid, at all. If it weren't for Lauren, he would probably hate Eddie too, for seemingly no reason.

"Hey." said a voice.

Lev looked to his right, and saw Shawn. He sat down next to Lev.

"What's up Lev?" Shawn asked coolly.

"Just finished tying up loose ends." Lev responded.

"Sounds shady." Shawn mentioned.

"You could say that." Lev stated.

"So what'd you tie up? The body bags? The knot? Your shoelace?" Shawn listed.

"Classified."

"Oh damn, a secret."

"That's right."

"Fair enough." Shawn said. "But anyway, lemme tell you about this." Shawn then spoke quieter, saying, "I'm pretty sure Paige has got some feelings for me, brother."

"What gives you that idea?"

"Hey, she's been hanging around me during homeroom here, and yesterday." Shawn looked around. "A shame she's not here today."

Lev shrugged. "Must be sick."

"Must be." Shawn restated. "But lemme say this, I think I'm gonna have to ask her out sometime. Like next weekend. I'll invite her to the movies and make a move. You know?"

"Oh God, just shut up." Eddie said, staring at him.

Shawn looked to Eddie with a disgusted look. "What's your deal?"

"Your conversation about some girls." Eddie said.

"Oh? What's wrong, don't like girls yet?" Shawn teased.

"Oh, grow up." Eddie said, shaking his head at Shawn.

"What's wrong, Ed?" Lev asked out of curiosity, and slight pity.

"What do you think?" he asked, glaring at Lev.

Lev knew immediately. "Mark Lanton." he stated.

Eddie nodded. "Yeah. Him."

"What happened there?" Shawn asked Eddie.

"I'm tired of him." Eddie stated.

"Why?" he asked again.

Eddie shook his head. "All he does is hit on Lauren. I'm tired of that. It is sickening to watch."

"Cause you like her." Shawn said, smiling at Eddie.

Eddie rolled his eyes. "Okay, great. But I'm mad. I don't like to see this happen."

"Newsflash, bud. Lots of guys hit on Lauren. You could say she leads them on too."

"Shut up Shawn."

"Listen, kid. I am simply informing you. Don't need to get all pissy, okay?"

"Sorry, then, I guess." Eddie said. "But I'm fed up with it."

"Right. Tell her that." Shawn suggested.

"I can't." Eddie said, sinking in his seat.

"No, you can. Go ahead." Shawn insisted.

"I..." Eddie started.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to offend her..?" Eddie tried to suggest.

Shawn didn't believe him for a second. "No, you're afraid to. You like her, and you let all of these guys just hit on her. She probably doesn't even know that you, yourself, like her."

"Shawn, come on. Relax." Lev suggested.

"No," Shawn said, "this kid seems to be always depressed and shit about Lauren Kadorski. So perhaps he should tell Lauren Kadorski his true feelings, and such."

"Easier said than done." Eddie moped.

"Alright, I understand you may be afraid. But you have to tell her. If you go on like, she'll never know. And nothing will happen."

"How do you know?"

"Kid, I've known her a while, just like you have. And I know for sure that she isn't the one to make a move. Most girls aren't. It's the guy's job, you know what I'm saying?"

Eddie nodded. "Alright. I gotcha."

"So," Shawn began, "what will you do, Eddie?"

Eddie looked directly at Shawn. "I'm not taking anyone's crap today."

Lev then butted in. "Hey, hey, hey! Come on now, don't do anything drastic, Ed."

"No, Lev. Shawn is right. I've been sitting around, waiting for what? I should do something, today. And so, today is the day everything for me changes. No longer will I take anyone's crap." Eddie said, valiantly.

"Alright." said Lev. "But don't do anything I wouldn't do."

"I don't know what you'd do. But I'll do what I need to do." Eddie said courageously.

Then, as if scripted, Lauren walked over and sat down in the group of four desks, and sat next to Eddie, across from Shawn, diagonal from Lev.

"Hey guys." Lauren said, smiling at them.

"Oh, great timing." said Shawn.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"I won't say anything. I'll just wait for it to happen." Shawn said, looking at Eddie.

Lauren shook her head. "Whatever, creep."

"Whoa, hostility. This early in the morning, Queenie?" Shawn asked, jokingly.

"I'll punch you, kid. Push your luck." Lauren threatened.

"Please don't hurt me, your Majesty." Shawn jokingly begged.

Lauren then grabbed a folder from Lev's desk, and threw it at Shawn. "Shut it!"

"Yo!" Lev half shouted. "Why my stuff?"

"Sorry. It was just kinda there." Lauren said.

Shawn picked up the folder off of the floor, and tossed it back to Lev.

"Thanks, Shawn. Good to know there is at least one nice person at this group." Lev said, before smacking Lauren's desk.

Lauren laughed. "Him? I don't think so. You're wrong Lev."

"Typical woman. Claiming the man is wrong." joked Shawn, and shook his head.

"Oooooh, you're asking to get beaten up, aren't you?" Lauren said.

"No, Queenie, please no!"

Lauren then leaned up and forward from her desk, and smacked Shawn's arm, and took her seat again.

"Oooooh, ow. Ouch, oh man, the pain is unbearable." he said, faking his pain.

"I bet it was, you wuss." she teased.

Shawn then stopped faking the pain and looked at her. "Now you've gone and hurt my feelings. What's next, you monster?"

Lev laughed. "Your soul."

"Oh, cause she needs one. You know, her hair proves that." Shawn suggested, and laughed.

"Shut up!" Lauren half jokingly shouted. "You guys are mean!" she teased.

"Oh, we're not allowed to be mean. So the tables have turned, right?" Shawn asked.

"Mature." Lauren added.

"What?" Shawn said, confused. "But you started this conversation."

"New topic. Me. I'm tired of Mark." Lauren claimed.

Eddie rolled his eyes and shook his head.

"Okay, then stop talking to him." Lev said, shaking his head as well.

"But that's mean." Lauren said, slightly sadly.

"Then stop bitching about him." Shawn suggested, sternly too.

"Shut up, Shawn." Lauren demanded.

"No, he's right." Eddie piped up.

Lauren looked at Eddie, and was surprised to hear an objection from him too. "What do you mean then?"

"I mean, why do you talk to him?" he asked her.

"Well, he's really sweet." she said, dreamily. At the moment, Lev and Shawn fell back more in their chairs, and Lev let out a deep sigh.

"Well, he only flirts with you. Can you remember a time he didn't?" he questioned her.

Lauren leaned her head on her hand, as she looked at Eddie. She shook her head and said, "No, I don't recall of a time."

"Well, you know he is only after you for.. for your... your body, Lauren." Eddie suggested.

Lauren looked at him speechless. She was honestly impressed that Eddie was going against her, and that he suggested that Mark was only using her for her body. However, she thought it over slightly, and knew that it was true.

"Wham." Shawn said. "Truth from this guy." he said, pointing at Eddie.

"I'm impressed, Eddie. You normally wouldn't disagree with me." Lauren said.

"Well, I'm getting tired of watching this occur. It's like a cycle. You talk to Mark. He flirts with you. You get mad. You complain to us. Repeat."

Lauren shook her head and thought on it for a bit. "Why do you feel so strongly about this, all of a sudden, Eddie?"

Eddie shook his head then. "Because I... I... Lauren, I have-"

The school bell then rang.

"Saved by the bell, Ed?" said Shawn as he stood up, and walked off, followed by Lev.

Eddie began to walk out of the room with his books in hand, when Lauren grabbed his arm.

"Eddie." Lauren said.

"What? I gotta get to class." Eddie said, hastily.

"I want to know what you were about to say." she said.

"What do you mean?"

"Eddie." she pleaded.

"Nothing. Forget it." Eddie then left the homeroom, eventually followed by Lauren. She wanted to go after him and ask again, but she was convinced it was nothing important since he wouldn't tell her. She shrugged and left the homeroom.

The students of the highschool were going off to their first class.

And their last...


	3. What the Morning Brought

**Chapter 2**

_What the Morning Brought_

"Hey, kiddo." said a man with brown hair, who was dressed up in a blue and black suit, which included a black tie and his black dress shoes. He had a suitcase in his hand. He adjusted his tie, and looked back to his son, whom was watching TV. His son had brown hair and was dressed in kiddie pajamas with several different colored and different shaped shapes. "You need to get some rest."

"But dad," the child began, "I want to finish watching this show."

"Buddy, I know. But you're sick. You've had breakfast and need to sleep."

"But dad, I feel fine." the child pleaded.

"Brandon, you may think that, but your mother and I know that you're sick. I checked your temperature and it's at one-hundred one. That's really bad. You need to rest so your body can heal." the father explained to his son.

"Dad..." the son pleaded more, as tears began to form in his eyes.

The father took notice and shook his head. He looked to the clock on the wall, which read 8:17am. So the show would only last for ten more minutes, he figured. He looked back at his son, still tears in his eyes. "Alright, Brandon. Alright. You can watch this last show, but then, straight to bed for more rest. Okay kiddo?"

Brandon smiled an innocent smile at his father. "Thanks Dad!" he said aloud.

The father looked back at the clock again. 8:18am. "Well, I gotta leave in forty minutes or so. I guess I'll have some breakfast." he said quietly to himself. He walked into the kitchen, where he spotted his wife at the kitchen counter, making herself coffee.

"Breakfast?" the man asked.

"Yes, dear. I've made breakfast." the black haired woman said.

The man looked at the table. There, sat a plate that contained waffles that were drenched in syrup. Next to this, was a glass cup half filled up with orange juice.

The woman smiled at the man. "Half full, or half empty?"

"Oh, I'll say half full. It's a good thing to feel great in the morning, you know." the man said as he sat down at the table, and began eating the waffles.

"Glad you're looking at it that way, hon." she said as she turned to the sink, and began washing some dishes.

"Yeah. It seems life is going good for everyone. Especially the Belvemont family." he said as he took a sip of his orange juice.

"Oh, yes." the mother said. "I was surprised to see Douglas yesterday at church."

"As was I." he said.

"Yeah, I thought he was still stationed in Afghanistan for the next two months." she said to him.

"Guess not." the father said. He looks out the archway and saw his son sitting there, watching the TV.

"Is he okay?" the mother asked in concern.

"Well, I told him he could watch the rest of his show, then back to bed." he said as he continued eating the waffles.

"Alright, hon." she said, still washing dishes.

"Martha, you gave him his medicine, right?"

"Oh, woe is me, I forgot! Thanks hon for the reminder." the mother said as she scurried to gather up the medicine liquid out of the cabinet and a tiny plastic cup.

"Well, look at that." he said.

Martha rushed out to Brandon with the medicine. "Here, honey. Drink it all up please." she said to him.

He obliged, and drank it. "Yuck!" he said aloud.

"I know, it's bad, but thanks for being a good boy and drinking it." she said, smiling at him. She then leaned over and kissed the top of his head. She walked back out to the kitchen and tossed the plastic cup in the trashcan, and placed the medicine bottle back into the cabinet. "There we go, John."

John stood up from the table after he finished his waffles. He grabbed the glass and finished off the remaining orange juice inside. "Thanks for the breakfast, dear." he said to his wife. He walked to her, and then kissed her.

"You're welcome honey." she said, smiling at him.

John looked to the clock. It read 8:23am.

"8:23am. That's when their world ended."

All of a sudden, a loud noise, as if a sudden explosion, went off outside. Immediately after, the power cut, shutting off everything in the houses. Outside, a flurry of green gas starting swarming the air outside. The green gas began seeping around into houses, as seen from the distance.

"Dad, the power went out." Brandon said, looking at him.

"John?" Martha asked, looking to him.

John was at the window, speechless. He watched the gas flow and flow around in the air. "Martha. That's some green gas! What is this?!" he screamed.

"Daddy? What's going on?" Brandon asked.

"What is this? What is this? What's going on?!" he shouted.

"Oh my God. It's like a toxic cloud." Martha said, shaking in fear.

"I need to call cops, now!" he shouted. He began running to the kitchen for his cell phone, but twisted around to Martha. "Watch Brandon!" he shouted, and turned back to the kitchen. He ran in and grabbed his phone and dialed 911.

"Mommy," Brandon said to his mother, "I'm scared."

"I know. I'm scared too." Martha said, her voice trembling. "I need to call Grandma. Sit still, and stay there."

The boy nodded, as the mother went across the room to gather up her phone. The boy turned his head and look out the window. The green gas was still flowing in the atmosphere, and he also noticed a person walking outside the on street. After taking a closer look, the person looked awfully familiar. "Mr. Simmons!" the child said to himself.

Mr. Simmons was Brandon's soccer coach. He lived nearby in the neighborhood. Simmons appreciated the boy's company when his wife died. Simmons never thought anything creepy of it. He was a true, honest man.

Brandon walked to the front door, and opened it, then walked outside. He walked up towards the man. And that man slowly crept. His skin was a dark blue-ish color. His skin also faded, and his veins were easily visible. And the man had blood leaking from his arm. There was a mark of a bite there. His flesh was showing, as blood dripped from the man's arm.

"Damn it." Martha said. She had called her mother, but the number went dead. "I heard no ringing at all. Her power must be out too." she said to herself, in a terrified sounding tone. She walked into the kitchen, and her husband was still on the phone.

"John?" she said.

"The emergency line is hot." he said to her with a blank hopeless look.

"What?" she asked.

"It is loaded. I couldn't get through to them." he said to her.

"Can't get through to them? So the entire neighborhood is calling or has called." she said.

"Yeah. I didn't think they'd load the entire line though. Not just this neighborhood."

"That's another thing, I could not get a hold of my mother either." Martha mentioned.

"But she lives forty miles from here! How the hell is that possible, Martha? Her power can't be out too! "How does that happen, Martha?! That can't be right!" John shouted.

"I don't know. But her power is down for a reason." she said.

"But that's forty miles away! So, that means-" he started.

"That her neighborhood was hit by this too." she finished, still trembling in fear.

"How many neighborhoods were hit by this...?" John said, backing down into a kitchen chair, head in palms of his hands.

"What is this madness, John?"

"I don't know. Terrorism? Global warfare? I don't know at all." he said, still with his head down.

"This can't happen." she said.

"Alright, we'll stay put in the house. Where's Brandon?"

"In there." Martha said, pointing out the living room. John peered into the living room, but there was no sign of Brandon.

"Hon, he's not there." he said as he stood.

"What are you talking about?" She walked over to the living room, and looked around. "Oh my God."

"Brandon!" John shouted. He started racing upstairs. "Brandon!"

"Brandon, where are you?" Martha shouted out inside the house.

John then ran back downstairs. "He's not in his room, Martha! I told you to watch him!"

"I know, but I had to call my mother." she said, near tears.

"What the hell's going on here?" he said, looking out the window. The green smoke still circled in the air, and he noticed a few people slowly creeping around outside. "Martha, look at this."

Martha came over and looked out the window. "Why are they out there? They should have stayed inside, away from those fumes..."

John continued to look around, but noticed someone laying in the street. Someone familiar. "Hey, Martha is that..."

Martha looked to the street, and her eyes widened. "Brandon? Brandon! What is he doing out there?"

John ran to the door, and swung it open. He ran down his lawn and into the street to his son, who was just laying there, without even a flinch. He leaned down and started lightly shaking his son. "Brandon, wake up. Wake up."

Martha ran out to them. She looked around and saw the few people around, as they crept throughout the streets. She leaned down next to her husband. "What's wrong?!" she questioned loudly.

John checked for a pulse. "He has no pulse. It's gone!" he frantically looked around at his son, and noticed what was seemingly a bite mark on his neck, revealing flesh. "Oh my God. Martha, something bit him!"

Martha saw the bite mark, and screamed. "Why?! Why is this happening?!"

"Come on, we have to take him inside!" he shouted. "We'll take him to the hospital!" he said as he picked up his son.

"But John, if the police line is overflowing, what about the hospitals?" she asked.

"Shut up, Martha! We're taking him anyway! We can't do anything if we sit around!" John shouted, as he walked, with his son cradled in his arms. He walked inside, and Martha closed the door behind them all. John set his son down on the couch.

"John, you said he has no pulse." she repeated.

"Shut up, damn it! Stay with him this time. I gotta grab my keys!" he shouted and ran into the kitchen. John frantically checked the cabinets and drawers, even the dishwasher for his car keys. "Where are my keys, Martha?!"

"I don't know! Check in our room!" she shouted as she sat on couch where Brandon lie.

John ran back in the living room and twisted around, and up the stairs. He ran into the bedroom, and started searching every dresser, drawer, or container he could locate. He even checked the closet, and tossed clothes aside and aside until the closet was empty. He threw the bed sheets off of the bed, followed by the pillows. He even checked the clothing drawers, in desperate need for his car keys.

"Where the fuck are they?" he shouted aloud, nearly screaming. He then had the crazy idea to check his coat pocket. He did so, and out he pulled his car keys. "I'm a fucking moron." he said, punching the wall, leaving a dent in it. As he left the bedroom, he heard a loud scream as if from a banshee itself. He sprinted downstairs, nearly tripping on his way down. He turned and ran into the living room. There, on the floor, lied Martha. On her shoulder, through her shirt was a bloody bite mark. Blood leaking from her body. Standing above her body, was Brandon. His skin was a darkened blue-ish tint. He looked up, and his eyes held a red tint, and his pupils were enlarged, and his eyes were directly staring at his father. Blood covered his son's pajamas and drops of the blood dripped from his mouth. His veins were clearly visible on his skin. He looked back to his wife, and leaned down and checked her pulse. No response came from her body. However, the same occurrence had resulted with Brandon. And now, John looked saw his son stand before him. His feelings were destroyed, as he was filled with fear and anxiety. His son had died. He checked his son's pulse just minutes before, and he was as if dead.

John walked to his son and started shaking him. He glared deeply into the boy. "What happened Brandon?! What did you do?! Why did you do this?! Why?! Why?!" he loudly demanded to his son. Brandon glared back at his father, and began to show his teeth. His teeth were seemingly sharper and were dyed red from the blood of his mother.

Brandon then reached forward, and bit his father's shoulder. His father screamed as he fell back onto the floor. Blood leaked out quickly from his shoulder. He writhed in pain on the floor as he bled out. John then looked back up at Brandon. The son started slowly moving towards John again. He quickly got back up on his feet. "What happened to you?! Brandon?!" John screamed. He frantically looked around for help. There was none.

"Stop it, Brandon! Stop there! Stop now!" John screamed again. However, Brandon proceeded in walking towards him. He was not phased whatsoever by his father's words. "Please, stop. Don't make me do something bad." John shouted and pleaded. Regardless of his pleads, Brandon did not stop moving towards John. He proceeded. John slowly backed up. He now knew that Brandon would not and could not listen. "You're not Brandon anymore." John said. "You're a demon." John then recalled of the green gas. "No, you're one of them." he said, referring to those that crept outdoors. "That toxic cloud, it did something to you. And now you're different. And you're not Brandon. You're not my son anymore. That doesn't matter, does it?" he said to his 'son'. "Does it?!" he then screamed. John backed up against the wall, and bumped against an end table near the corner. He felt a lamp with his hand. He grabbed it and picked it up, as the plug ripped from the outlet. He removed the lampshade from the lamp and tossed it aside.

Then, all of a sudden, he felt a sharp pain in his shoulder and dropped to the ground. The pain was unbearable. He looked up, and there was his 'son'. He opened his mouth wide and leaned towards John.

And smash. John had taken the lamp back up and smashed his son over the head with it. "Stop it, damn it!" he shouted. "You're not you!" John proceeded bashing his son's skull over and over with the lamp. "I'm sorry!" he shouted over and over as he did. Blood finally shot up and spewed all over John and the wall, and leaked onto the floor.

Finally, Brandon stopped moving. John threw the bloody, broken lamp aside, as the blood oozed from it. "I'm sorry, Brandon. I'm sorry!" he screamed again. He leaned back against the wall, and started sobbing. "I just killed one of my own sons." he said to himself between sobs. Tears streamed down his bloody faced, as the sharp pain began to return to him. Then, something took his attention. He looked back, and noticed Martha began moving slightly. John just stared. "Not you too. Oh God, not you too Martha! Not you too!" he shouted. "So this is what happens if they bite you." he said, coming to a realization. "You become one of them. What the hell kind of thriller is this now?"

Martha had the looks that Brandon held. Her skin was a blue-ish pale color, and her veins were easily visible. Her eyes stood out easily and also had a red tint to them. She opened her mouth, and her teeth were clenched together. Her teeth looked sharp, but contained no blood. Martha, just as Brandon had, slowly crept towards John.

John stared at his wife and wiped the tears from his eyes. "So that's what I'll become. I won't have it. I'll remain a servant of God." he said, and stood up. He took up the broken lamp, and smashed Martha with it as well. He proceeded in doing so, but didn't cry about it. He accepted his fate. After practically destroying her head, he stood up again. He started walking over to the wall. As he walked, he dropped the remains of the lamp, and it shattered. He walked over to the fireplace, nearby the TV. He took the rifle from the wall.

"I won't become one of the creatures of the devil. I'll join them in heaven. I'll see them again." John turned the rifle's barrel and held it under his head, facing upwards at his jaw. His finger was on the trigger. "Good luck, Jacob. Make the Sanders generations proud."

John pulled the trigger.

**Author Note:** Yikes.. well, there's the action we've been waiting for. More to come!


	4. American Spirit

**Chapter 3**

_American Spirit_

A black four-door vehicle pulled up to a gas station. A man opened the passenger door, and climbed out of the car. He wore a long, green trench-coat that hung down to his knees. The coat shallowed over his green army pants. He wore black combat boots. Around his neck, hung two dog tags necklaces. He wore a green cap with a silver head of a wolf on the front of it. His graying hair could be barely seen, due to his cap covering the majority of it. His eyes looked directly to anything that would lie ahead. His face was always serious. About anything and everything.

The man looked at the gas station before him. The large glass windows were shattered. In front of them, were long trays of flowers, held up by a short stone fence. The flowers were a bright white with yellow pedals and were dyed by several spatters of blood. The door also had glass, but it was now shattered. On the remains of the glass, was blood. And it was still dripping. A pool of blood leaked from a man that laid dead in front of the doors to the gas station. Much of his skin was revealed and fleshy. His corpse had several bite marks and cannibalism had taken effect on the now dead man.

The mysterious man in green walked into the gas station. He looked around inside. Few shelves were toppled over and a woman's corpse lied on them. Several candy bars were scattered across the floor, due to the toppled shelves and displays. Several magazines and newspaper were also thrown about across the area. Said documents were soiled by the crimson colored liquid, that seemed to be quite familiar with everything else in the gas station. The man walked up to the counter and picked up one of the still intact newspapers. He tried to wiped the fresh blood off of one of the newspaper, but smudged it instead. He tossed it aside, and grabbed the next newspaper, which was unsoiled by the human blood. He read the headlines, and said to himself, "Go figure. Nothing relevant to the situation at hand. Typical media." He tossed the newspaper aside and walked near the back of the gas station. As he walked, he stepped over few corpses. Each corpse was covered in much blood, and several bites and chomps. Much flesh was revealed and ripped off of the corpses. One of the corpses was sitting up against one of the coolers. The man in green started to move the blood infested man inside, when he noticed the man's face had been greatly damaged. The upper part of his face had been torn up and bitten off. The only parts of his face remaining was his mouth, and it was drenched in blood. The man in green pulled the corpse forward and pushed him out of the way of the glass freezer door. He then opened the freezer. He scanned the items inside, and finally grabbed a regular bottle of clear spring water. He opened it up, and took a good gulp of the ice water. However, the only thing he could taste was blood, even though it was simply a trick his mind played. He figured it was due to the enormous amount of blood that was shed in the gas station. Regardless, he took another gulp of the water.

After putting the bottle of water into his jacket pocket, the man in green walked over to the shelves that were still standing upright. The shelves contained many goodies, including colorful candy bars and a large variety of bags of chips. He browsed the shelves, looking at each candy bar placed. Eventually, he grabbed a chocolate bar.

The man walked back up to the counter. "Cigarettes." the man in green said as he looked at the large section of wall, which contained several dozens of kinds of cigarettes in their packs. The man vaulted over the counter.

But there, on the floor, were two of the blue-skinned infected feeding on a man behind the counter. With only their teeth, the two were ripping the flesh of off the corpse. The man's blue shirt was rinsed in his own blood. The remains of his clothing were covered in the blood. The majority of his shirt had been shredded, by the teeth of the blue-skinned infected.

"Zombies." the man said to himself, as he pulled out his sidearm pistol. Upon hearing the man in green, the two zombies looked at the live man. They both stood up, and started walking towards the man in green. Their teeth were full of the fresh blood from the clerk they had just been feeding on. The zombies retained the blood from the corpse. The man quickly aimed at the head of the first, and shot it directly in the forehead. The zombie immediately dropped back down onto the floor, as blood leaked from its body. The man then looked to the second, and shot it immediately in its head. He watched as it toppled on the other now-dead again zombie.

The man in green looked back to the wall of cigarettes. He browsed over the multitude of packs of cigarettes, including various colors of red, green, blue, and others. After browsing the shelf for a minute, the man took notice to a pack of cigarettes painted like the American flag. He grabbed it off of the shelf.

"American Spirit." he read aloud. The man examined the case more closely. The case pack was made out of a cheap paper plastic. Much cheaper than the normal Russian brand he was always supplied with. But he figured that the American cigarettes would have to do. He knew he would be without his favorite cigarettes a while due to his new mission. He shrugged off his negative feelings towards the graphics and material of the pack of cigarettes. The man opened the pack and pulled down one of its cigarettes. He examined it more closely, and was disgusted by its quality.

The man in green placed his pistol back into its holster, and pulled a lighter out of his coat pocket. He lit the end of the cigarette, and placed the remaining pack into his pocket of his coat, followed by his lighter. He raised the cigarette to his face, and examine it once more. The man shrugged, and took a puff. Upon doing so, he immediately withdrew and coughed into his hand. After a brief coughing attack, the man looked back to the lit cigarette. He shook his head, as if rejecting the cigarette. But the man knew, that he had to make due with whatever he could get his hands on.

He rose the cigarette back to his mouth, and took a second puff. This time, he held back a cough. Finally, he pulled the cigarette away, and exhaled smoke. He thought to himself, that the flavor of the American cigarette he had just tried, was simply horrible. Compared to the grand quality he valued of his favorite cigarette, the American Spirit cigarette was the poorest quality even he had not imagined a cigarette could contain.

He put the cigarette to his mouth once again, and took another puff. After a few seconds, he removed it from his mouth, and exhaled the smoke. Already, he grew tired of the boring flavor that the American tobacco contained. The man examined the cigarette once more. He knew the flavor was most likely killed off by pesticides. The papering the tobacco was enveloped in was a cheap tin sheet of tissue paper. "El cheapo." the man said to himself, retaining his frown.

The man held the cigarette away from himself, and snapped it in half with his fingers. He then released the remains, letting them hit the floor, and spattering out tobacco all over the floor too. The man then went into his left trench coat pocket, and pulled out a hard black cigarette case. He flicked it open, revealing a single cigarette. The cigarette was half a core dark black, but it's other minor half was a beautiful shiny gold tinted color. He already had gone through the majority of the beautiful, well-crafted cigarettes. Now one solely remained. Signed in gold, in Russian, read "Motherland Favorites" on the cigarette itself.

The man in green was saving his final special cigarette for a special occasion. However, the only special occasions he could think of would be the completion of his mission, or his possible demise. Either way, he knew that he wouldn't be able to smoke it for a long time. So therefore, he knew he had to make due with what little resources he had. The man grabbed four other packs in a handful and put them into his coat pockets.

He took another look around the gas station. Blood was everywhere. Corpses laid across the gas station, colored in the crimson liquid of death. Shelves were overturn. Windows were smashed. Broken shreds of glass littered the floor. The gas station had become a wasteland.

The man in green hopped back over the counter. He walked past the topped display shelves. He walked past the corpses. He stepped over a corpse before finally arriving at the door. He exited, stepping on the shattered glass, making crunching sounds with each glass shard squished. He walked into the parking lot. He walked back to the black four-doored vehicle, opened the passenger side door, and stepped into the vehicle. The black car then backed up, and pulled out of the parking lot of the gas station.

**Author Note:** Short chapter, yep. Reviews are welcome! (hint)


	5. Executive Order

**Chapter 4**

_Executive Order_

"Good morning, Mr. Rulshak." said the middle aged female receptionist, as she smiled at the man in a blue tuxedo and blue dress pants, accompanied by black loafers. His hair was short and a jet black, gelled down to his head in a neat fashion.

The man stopped and looked over to the woman at the counter. "Good morning, Charlotte." he said with a smile, revealing his perfect white teeth. He nodded, and turned away to proceed walking. The man walked into his office, and said down at his desk. There, he had a picture of his pregnant wife. He stared at the picture, and smiled. Across his desk, lied various other papers. Along with that, was his black laptop.

He opened up the laptop, and booted it on. As it loaded, he looked over to his calender on the right of his desk. He looked at the date. March 20th. There, written in the box in a red ink, was it labeled 'Davis'. The man's smile immediately reduced to a frown. "Davis." he said to himself quietly. He looked back to his computer, and it was still loading up. He looked back to the calender.

"Best get this over with." he said quietly. The man stood up and exited his office, and strolled back towards the counter. There, he stopped and faced the receptionist from earlier. "Charlotte, could you call for Davis Matthews?" he asked politely. The woman looked up to him and smiled. "Of course." she said. The woman rolled her chair over the phone and started dialing a number. The man nodded and went back to his office. As he sat down, he heard the loudspeaker come on. He listened to the announcement, as it said in the receptionist's voice. "Davis Matthews, to principal Rulshak's office please. David Matthews to principal Rulshak's office. Thank you." she spoke, and then the announcement was ended.

The principal looked to the clock. It read 8:50am. He looked back his laptop, which had reached the login screen. The man reached his hands to the keyboard, and typed in his user ID and his password. Upon hitting the ENTER key, the screen darkened and lit back up to his desktop. Just then, he heard a knock at his office door. He looked up to the door. He knew who it was.

"Come in." he said sternly. A male teen with short, messy brown hair entered. He wore blue jeans and a navy blue T-shirt, along with white sneakers. He walked up to the desk and faced the principal. "Sit down." he said, still retaining his stern attitude. The teen obeyed and sat down, quietly, with his head faced down. The principal readjusted himself and looked deeply into the eyes of the teen. "So Davis," he began, "do you know why you're here?"

The teen looked up to the principal. "Yes, Mr. Rulshak." The principal leaned back into his seat. "You were passing some sort of illegal propaganda around to the students of this school. That is unacceptable." The teen shook his head. "Mr. Rulshak, passing out pamphlets to my fellow students in a peaceful manner is not illegal! It's actually protected by the First Amendment."

"Ah, yes. But the conduct within said pamphlets is illegal." he said angrily. Davis looked at his principal, and shook his head again. "Explain to me how then." Davis demanded, sitting back and crossing his arms, with a smirk. Rulshak leaned forward and looked into Davis' eyes again. "What's with the smirk? Do you think that this is some sort of joke?"

"No," Davis began, "I think this is a very serious matter." Rulshak shook his head, and deepened his frown. "Then wipe that grin off of your face, boy." he demanded. Davis obeyed, but then spoke out, saying "Alright, fine. But tell me, what is apparently illegal about my pamphlets?"

"Gun promotion." Rulshak stated.

"No, it's to make my fellow students realize what the government is trying to do. They are trying to take away the nation's legal right of owning a gun. AKA, they're trying to abolish the Second Amendment." Davis explained.

"Davis. You're promoting gun usage." Rulshak stated again.

"It is our Second Amendment! We have a right to bear arms." Davis insisted.

"We have a zero tolerance policy here against the possession of any weapons." the principal explained.

"But Mr. Rulshak, it's just a pamphlet." Davis claimed.

"Ah, yes. But, you might be suggesting violent things, and thus could be making terroristic threats towards our school. Which, we most certainly do have a zero tolerance policy against." said Rulshak.

"I'm not though." Davis said.

"There's no surefire way of determining it, just assumptions. And I think I'd rather be safe than sorry."

"What do you mean?"

"I should expel you. I really should, Davis. This is the third time this semester you've been called down here to my office due to this crap." he said angrily.

"I have a true reason for what I do, Mr. Rulshak." Davis said firmly.

"And what might that be?" the principal asked calmly, but still with anger.

"Anarchy." Davis said, with a straight and serious face.

"Excuse me?" the principal said, confused.

"This country is going to hell, Mr. Rulshak." Davis started.

"Watch your language, Davis." Rulshak said, with a slight politeness.

Davis nodded, and continued, "Right. But as I said, this country is... taking a turn for the worse. The government is really cutting down on our freedoms."

"What are you talking about?" the principal asked.

"As I said, the government placed gun control on Chicago a few years back. And you know what? They got away with it, Mr. Rulshak! The government, back in the late 1700's, stated that the Bill of Rights would not be infringed."

Rulshak sat there quietly. "Go on." he silently said.

"Gladly, sir." Davis said, a bit excitedly. "But yeah, Bill of Rights would not be infringed they said. And approximately two-hundred years later... bam! The government basically disallows the Second Amendment in Chicago. Know what that means, Mr. Rulshak?"

Rulshak shook his head and leaned back in his chair. "You're insane, Davis."

Davis brushed off the principal's comment and continued, saying, "It means the government successfully infringed the Bill of Rights. And now, it's only a matter of time until each and every region ends up like Chicago. Without a Second Amendment. And as shown by evidence, the city's condition will worsen. Understand?"

"Right. I get your logic, Davis." Rulshak said quietly.

"So where does that put us?" Davis asked, leaning forward towards the principal.

"Davis, I respect your so called belief in this, I suppose..." the principal said as he drifted off. "But," he began, "that does not  
forgive your actions. Not at all." he said, with a louder and stern voice.

"Seriously, Mr. Rulshak? Come on now." Davis pleaded.

"While you're free to have your own opinion, you cannot distribute these pamphlets to your peers at the highschool."  
Rulshak explained.

"Mr. Rulshak. I'm actually trying to help benefit the country. I'm trying to reach out towards my peers. I want to help them realize the corruption of our government, so that maybe one day, they'll try to reach others too. And you know that means?"

The principal shrugged as he leaned farther back in his chair, and shook his head. "You can reach more people." he guessed.

"Exactly. Exactly right, sir. So I have to do this." Davis said.

"Davis, you're done. It's over." Rulshak said sternly.

Davis leaned forward and rose his voice, "Why? Why don't you understand?"

The principal leaned forward, and glared right at Davis. "Why don't you understand? The propaganda you have within these pamphlets pose a potential terroristic threat to our school. Now, I've let you off with severe warning twice this semester, Davis. I've warned you around five times last semester about crap like this. But this time, you use pamphlets. I'm sorry, Davis, but this is the final straw.

Davis sighed deeply. "So, what happens now?"

"I'm sorry Davis. I have no choice but to expel you from this school."

"You're kidding me. Why?" Davis asked with a heightened tone of voice.

"Davis, I already explained to you..." he began.

But then, the ringing of the principal's cellphone echoed throughout the office. Mr. Rulshak sighed began pulling his cellphone out of his pocket as he looked back to Davis, whom was shaking his head in disbelief. After pulling his cellphone from his pocket, he looked to Davis again. "Sorry Davis." he said quickly, and answered his call.

"Hello?" the principal said.

"Phil!" a woman's voice screamed on the other line.

Mr. Rulshak immediately shot up. "Andrea! Honey, what's wrong?!" he half shouted.

"The neighborhood! The entire area! It's.. it's... it's like... engulfed in some green cloud!" the woman yelled.

"What are you talking about?!" he shouted back.

As this occurred, one of the guidance counselors ran into the office. "Everything alright?" the woman asked.

The man looked to the counselor, and shook his head. "Hon," he said to his wife on the phone, "what's going on?!"

"I don't know, Phil! Bombs went off! And just like that, a green cloud spread through the air!" his wife yelled even louder.

"Hon, relax. Don't let the gas seep into the house. Get somewhere safe." Rulshak tried to calmly explain to his wife.

Davis then stood up from the seat. "Gas? Rulshak, what's going on?"

Rulshak looked to the teen. "Sit down, Davis!" he shouted.

"The news." the woman said in a shaky voice. "The president is on the air about this, right now."

The principal turned to the counselor. "Jill, turn on the TV. Channel eight."

The counselor obeyed and clicked on the television. Static. The counselor tried switching channels, but each of them held static. The counselor looked back to Rulshak. "The channels aren't coming in." she told him.

"Andrea. Our broadcast signal for the TV. It's out!" the principal shouted. "Hon..." he said a bit calmer, "what's going on?"

"I don't know, Phil." she replied. "I'm scared. I don't know what to do." she said, in a very shaky tone.

"You said the president is on TV. What's he saying?!" Rulshak shouted over the phone to his wife.

"Alright, alright, hang on...!" she yelled with few sobs.

Davis stood there speechless. He was witnessing a catastrophe. He did not know what was happening yet. But deep down,  
he knew it was bad. "Mr. Rulshak.." Davis began to say.

Mr. Rulshak immediately spun around to face Davis. "Davis, I told you to sit down!" he half screamed.

Davis took a step back out of surprise. "Rulshak!" the teen shouted. "What's going on here?!" he shouted at Rulshak.

"Damn it, Davis! I don't know!" Rulshak yelled back.

"Hon." his wife said to him in a silent, yet scared tone, over the phone.

"Andrea! What's happening?"

"Alright, I'm watching the president. He's making his speech." she began to explain.

"Hon, what's he saying?" Rulshak asked calmly.

"He's aware of the problem. The bombings... The bombs are doing something to people... as if changing their physical appearance... and their behaviors." she said as calmly as possible. "He also said that Canada and Mexico have declared Martial Law."

"Martial Law? How long ago did this start?" he asked his wife.

"I don't know, Phil. Probably like.. an hour ago?" she guessed.

"An hour, and Mexico and Canada have declared Martial Law? What?" he questioned with almost serious doubt in his tone. "This is insanity!" he yelled.

"The president stated he set up transportation. To escape the virus." the wife stated.

"Transportation? What transportation?" he questioned.

"He said, he said.. he said that he set up naval transportation... with the United Nations." she said.

"Seriously?" he questioned. "You mean to tell me that our president is doing something useful?"

"He said that the ships would be ready in a few days, approximately five or six days." she said, still with a shaky tone.

"A few days, right. Where?" he asked.

"New York City. The harbor." she stated.

"New York City's harbor. Got it." he said.

Davis knew something else was going. He knew for a fact that something definitely awry. He questioned what he overheard Mr. Rulshak saying. He said something about the president. A national announcement. Transportation. New York City. The harbor. And a gas. It was time. Davis knew that this was beginning of a crisis. Davis stood up from the chair and looked directly at Mr. Rulshak. He would not be silenced for any longer.

"Rulshak." he said aloud.

Mr. Rulshak looked back at Davis. "Sit. Down." he demanded sternly.

"No. You tell me what's going on here." Davis said.

"Now is a bad time to disobey my orders."

Davis immediately snapped back, "You already expelled me. I've got nothing left to lose."

"Sit down." Rulshak pleaded, still with a demanding tone.

Davis shook his head. "What's going on, Rulshak? You said something about some kind of gas. You said the president was on national television and stated something about New York City. And you know, there's gotta be a good reason why this TV set here isn't receiving any channels!" he shouted.

The guidance counselor nodded slightly. "Yeah, Phil. He's right. What's going on?"

Rulshak shook his head and faced away from them. "Hon," he began to speak to his wife, "be safe. I'll come home soon. I need to protect the students."

"Alright." she said, still scared. "The president declared New York City to be a safezone, a place away from the virus. They called it the.. the Quarantine Zone."

"Quarantine Zone? Alright. I have a duty to do here. I'll call you back soon. Stay safe." Rulshak calmly told his wife.

"I love you Phillip." she said, almost sobbing.

"Hon, hon. Please, be strong. Stay safe. Don't leave the house. At all. I love you too. I'll do my best to get to you, once this clears out." Mr. Rulshak said calmly with a sincere tone. He then hung up his phone, and placed it in his pocket. He turned around and faced towards the others.

"Mr. Rulshak. What's going on?"

"Alright, Davis. Alright." Rulshak began. "There's a virus going around the region, and many other regions in the country. It's being spread through a gas. Anyone who breathes it changes physically.. and mentally. Due to this infection in the States, Canada and Mexico declared Martial Law. However, the United Nations have been merciful enough to agree to allow us to send our people to their country. This would take place from New York City's harbor, starting in a few days."

"Wait," Davis began, "isn't Hurricane Yolanda due for contact with the States next week?"

"Oh God," Rulshak said in realization. "that is why he wants people to get to New York now. Because that hurricane... travel will be almost impossible during the hurricane."

"Wait a sec, how will they sail across the ocean..?" Davis began to ask.

"The hurricane is coming down from Canada's direction. No way they'll be able to protect their borders during this event." Rulshak explained. "But they'll more than likely be able to sail the ships over to the UN before the hurricane reaches the east coast."

"This is what I've been waiting for." Davis stated, with much sudden courage. "I was born ready for this."

Rulshak looked at Davis with fear in his eyes. "Davis, this isn't a joke. This is serious. A matter of life and death."

Davis grinned at Mr. Rulshak. "I know. This is the chaos I've been waiting for. We've gotta warn the student body about this. School is out, Rulshak."

"No, I'm going to make a collective call out to the parents first. Alert them about this."

"Why?" Davis asked in a loud voice.

"If we alert the students now, you can imagine the mass chaos that our school would meet." Rulshak stated.

"How do you plan on keeping it a secret? The parents will call their children. They'll tell everybody. The majority of the  
students more than certainly have their cellphones on them." Davis informed the principal.

"Yes, I understand that. But we need to maintain stability for as long as possible." Rulshak explained.

"This is a bad idea, you know. The students must know!" Davis shouted.

"Phil, what do we do?" the guidance counselor asked him, with a pleading look in her eyes.

"Alert the staff here in the office. I'm putting this school under administrative lockdown." he explained. He looked back to the guidance counselor. "Go."

The woman nodded, turned away, and exited the office. The principal walked over to the phone on his wall, and dialed a certain extension phone number. He cleared his throat and readied himself to speak. As this occurred, Davis slowly backed out of the office. He slowly walked through the office, with each step realizing life he once knew is now over.

As Davis exited into the hallway, the loudspeakers came on. And with the familiar voice of Mr. Rulshak, the principal said, "Attention. Kolamn highschool is now under administrative lockdown. I repeat, Kolamn highschool is under administrative lockdown. Thank you."

**Author Note:** Word is out. Zombies be creepin'. Stay tuned.


	6. End of the Old Grind

**Chapter 5**

_End of the Old Grind _

The sounds of door being opened, magnet-locked, and closed, sounded throughout the entire hallway. It echoed throughout the highschool.

"There." said a bald teacher wearing a green suit and black khakis, as he turned to face the rest of the classroom. "Locked up. Alright, students. Take another... say, 15 minutes to finish up the packets in your selected groups. And then we'll go over it." The teacher walked away to the front of the class, and sat down at his teacher's desk.

The students had divided their desks into groups of approximately three to four. Near the back, sat Lev, next to James, along with two other male teens.

"Ally, whatcha get for the third problem?" James asked the teen across from himself. The teen had well-combed, short black hair. He wore a white sweatshirt and black jeans, along with black sneakers.

"James, you know my name. It's Allen." he stated, retaining a polite tone.

"Right, right. Answer my question." James insisted.

Allen shook his head. "No, I don't have it."

James sighed. "Why do we still have this kid in our geometry group?"

"Because he's a part of the team." Lev said, glaring at James.

"Right. Well, what about you, Jake?" James asked, looking at the teen next to Allen, across from Lev, diagonal from himself. The teen wore a black coat, black shirt, and blue jeans. He also wore a distinctive black cap with a red markings on it, tilted in the usual position of a cap.

"Jamie, you know I'm here just for the kicks." he spoke, and laughed.

"Oh right, you're useless too." James said, and nodded at him.

"Jacob, you gonna take his crap?" Lev challenged.

James laughed and looked at Lev. "Trust me, he," James said, as he pointed at Jacob, "had best not start with me. He'll be destroyed by Mr. Moore." he said confidently.

"You speak like you're so sure of this." Jacob said, staring at James.

"Trust me, kiddo. I'd take you down a notch." James claimed, with a big grin and a whole lot of ego.

"Hey, hey, hey." Lev said in a louder tone, before shushing down. "Relax guys. Relax. Okay?"

"I'm chill." James said, still grinning.

"Yeah, I'm all good. Just that this kid here is being a bit arrogant." Jacob said, raising an eyebrow in James' direction.

"Within reason." James finished, and laughed.

"James, stand down already." Lev insisted, shaking his head at James.

James chuckled again. "Hey, hey, fine. My bad. I didn't realize you were so sensitive, Jacob."

"Yeah, whatever kid." Jacob said, shaking his head. "You're awfully rude, Jamie."

"Comes with the package, bud." James says, and smirked slyly.

"Wish I could mail the package back to its sender." Jacob muttered, and lightly chuckled.

"Dickweed." James retorted, and then pulled out his phone and began to browse on it.

Jacob shrugged it off. "So Lev, what's this I hear about you and your girlfriend fighting?"

Lev gave him a puzzled look. "Me and Emily are fine."

"No, dude, your other girlfriend. Krystal." he replied and smirked.

Lev shook his head. "Nothing. Where did you hear about that?"

Jacob nodded in James' direction. Lev looked at his friend. "You told him?"

James didn't respond. He seemed to be far too engrossed in whatever he was doing on his cellphone.

"James." Lev repeated. Upon receiving no answer again, he shook his shoulder. "James!" he said a bit louder.

James jumped a bit, but didn't look up at Lev. "Hang on man, hang on." he replied, but given in a serious tone.

"Yo, what's wrong?" Lev asked, taking note of his sudden change of attitude. It reminded him of how he acted in the  
morning.

"Just.. just that I got a text from my dad." he said and looked up at his friends. "He said to call him immediately... that  
something fucked up is going on in the neighborhood."

Lev wasn't sure what to think of that. "Like what?"

Jacob suggested; "Car accident?"

"He wouldn't demand I call him about some random goddamn car accident." James bitterly informed him.

"Fuckin' chill." Jacob responded, in a bitter tone as well. "Look, just him a damn call." Allen nodded in agreement.

James looked back at the teacher, who was busy on his computer. He looked back to his friends. "You think he'll notice?"

Lev took a glance at the teacher, and looked back to James. "Yeah, probably."

"Worth the risk." James stated as he stood from his desk and walk to the other side of the room, to the window. He whipped his phone back out, and begin to call his father. Meanwhile, Lev looked to Allen and Jacob, with a look of worry.

"What do you guys think is going on?" he asked them.

"No clue." Allen responded, and returned to work on his classwork.

Jacob then spoke up; "Hell, beats me."

And then suddenly, James was speaking loud for them to hear. "What the hell are you talking about? Riot? You're saying  
there's a riot?"

A few of the teens in the class took notice, and began to amongst themselves. Lev looked to Jacob and Allen again.

"Hear that? A riot." he said.

Allen nodded. "Yeah. But why the hell would such a thing occur here? Nothing ever happens here."

"Agreed." Jacob piped up. "Ain't no such thing."

"His dad wouldn't make him call him up from school, just for a lie." Lev claimed, glaring at them both.

"Also true." Jacob admitted.

James then began to raise his voice again. "Dad, dad, relax. What the hell is going on? People.. ripping each other up? That's crazy, man. Insane." James went on, sounding as if he began to doubt his own father. "No, I believe ya. That shit just sounds insane."

"Bullshit." Jacob claimed and shook his head.

Lev then stood up. "He wouldn't bullshit about this.." he muttered, though he found the idea of even a simple riot to be crazy.

"What the fuck.." muttered a nearby student, sat at a different group of desks. He was flicking through this cellphone. "Yo, hey." he said to the teens around him. "My mom, just like, tried calling me five times. And texted me saying people are killing each other."

"You're a fucking loonie, Evan." stated the female teen sitting across from him.

"Shut the fuck up, Sam." he ordered. "I'm not fuckin' with ya."

The girl rolled her eyes. Lev waltzed over nearby. "Yeah," he spoke up as he pointed in James' direction, "he's on the phone with his dad about the same kind of thing."

Evan looked over at James, and then back at Lev. "So what the fuck is going on?"

Lev shrugged. Sam simply rolled her eyes. "You're all bullshitters."

"Why the hell would we make this up?" Lev shouted aloud, causing the teacher to look over.

"What are you shouting about?" the teacher finally asked, having no idea of what the students had been arguing about.

"Something messed up is going on back home. Riots, they said." Lev replied, which initially gained the attention of the remainder of the students in the classroom.

"Riots?" the teacher asked back in some disbelief. "What on earth are you talking about?"

"It's all lies." Sam muttered.

"I ain't playin' with you, Sam. Shut your damn mouth!" Evan shouted and shot her a dirty look before standing up.

James hung up his cellphone and walked back over to Lev and the rest of the classmates. Jacob stood up, followed by Allen. "Jamie, what's goin' on?"

"We gotta get outta here, man." he quickly stated, and grabbed Lev's shoulder.

Lev took a step back from James, but didn't evade his grasp. "What the fuck happened, James?" he questioned.

Tears had actually began to form in James' eyes. "Shit.. I don't.. I don't know, man." he muttered. "My dad.. he.. he's gone."

Lev and Jacob exchanged confused looks before he looked back to James. "Relax, bro. What happened?"

"My dad.. he.. he said some explosions went off.. in the neighborhood." he began, which resulted in gasps and awestruck looks from the other teens.

"You.. you ain't serious, are ya..?" Jacob asked him, though he knew he wasn't. He had hoped it though that this was all a big joke.

James shook his head in denial. "Not a damn chance, Jacob. I was.. I was on the phone with my dad. He said there were explosions.. and then.. then there were people walking around outside.."

"This is somethin' else.." Jacob interrupt and leaned back on a desk as he held his head in his hands. Lev nodded in agreement, and then looked back at James. "And then..?"

"They attacked him. Those rioter pricks attacked him." he said, and then stepped away Lev's grasp. He wiped tears from his eyes and walked to the other side of the classroom and looked out the window. "I heard his scream. He's gone."

"Gone..?" Lev repeated in disbelief. "What do you mean 'gone'..?"

James turned back at Lev. "He's probably dead."

A moment of silence filled the room, as Lev sighed. "There's no way." he stated.

James shook his head. "He said my mom went insane and attacked him. Bit a chunk of flesh out of him. Three fuckin' times, Lev. Three!" he shouted as he began to turn red. "This kind of shit doesn't 'just happen'. No, there's something else fucked up goin' on here. We all know that."

"I know, James. I know." Lev agreed and sighed again. "What happened next?"

James didn't respond immediately. There was a silence flowing through the classroom. Even their teacher, Mr. Vagadir, was  
silent. James shook his head. "He said he killed her."

Lev felt his heart take a drop. His breathing sped up as he grew more anxious about the situation. "This shit ain't right.."

"You got that right, Lev." James stated. "We need to get the hell out of here. I gotta get back to my dad. Now."

"There's no way you're telling the truth.. it's impossible." Sam claimed.

"You really think I would make this shit up?!" James yelled at the girl, making her flinch back. The room was once more filled with silence, before the knock was heard at the door.

"Let me in!" the knocker shouted. "Seriously, open the door!"

The teacher, Mr. Vagadir, went to the door, unlocked it, and pushed it open. In walked Davis, all panicky. He looked to Lev and James, and noticed that James seemed to be in the mood that he himself was in. "You hear what happened?"

James nodded. "Yeah. We're getting' the hell outta here." he demanded, and looked to Lev.

"Mr. Vagadir. You're an adult. Take charge and get your students the hell out of here." Davis calmly suggested.

The teacher nodded. "But.. but how?"

"The buses that the technical school kids ride on. There's definitely a few outside the school. This all started 10 minutes  
before the buses leave, I think." he replied.

"R-really? There are?" the teacher replied, perhaps feeling hopeful despite the mass chaos.

James nodded. "Yeah. We gotta get back to the neighborhood. Other side of the county."

Davis stood there in shock to their lack of knowledge about the entire country being under attack by the gas bombs. "You.. you guys don't know how much of the country land was impacted..?"

James gave him a puzzled look. "Don't you say it. Don't you fucking say it!" he yelled at Davis, though in the back of his mind, he now suspected it hit the entire country. Everyone now suspected it.

"So.." he began, "the president ordered an evacuation of our people. Of all places, he decided that New York's harbor would be the perfect spot."

"So we have to leave..? You mean to tell me that these.. gas bombs hit all over the country?" James finally questioned.

Davis nodded. "Everywhere. Canada and Mexico have called out Martial Law. They don't want the infection getting into their country."

"What infection?" he questioned again.

"An infection that changes a person. Physically and mentally." he informed them.

James sighed. "My dad said that my mom went.. insane. She bit him three times. Tore flesh and all."

"Jesus Christ.." Davis gasped. "Look, our scumbag principal decided to put the school on administrative lockdown to retain 'order' for as long as possible. But we can't just fucking sit here. We need to go, and we need to go now."

"He's right. Let's go." Jacob agreed and turned away to the door.

"Wait, damn it." Lev ordered and Jacob stopped in his tracks. "We gotta get our friends together. I'm not leaving them. Especially not Emily."

Jacob wanted to argue that there was no time, but he decided it'd be best not to. He simply nodded. "We'll be there in thirty minutes. That sound good?"

Lev nodded. "Yeah. That's good."

Davis looked to Vagadir. "You best know how to drive, 'teach'." The teacher began to mutter something, but was  
interrupted; "Good, let's go."

"Half an hour." the teacher stated, and walked and exited out of the classroom. Lev looked to James. "We gotta gather our  
friends, real quick, and get back to our homes."

"Hey," Jacob piped up, "if there's really a riot goin' on, we're gonna need some weapons. I'll to the wood shop classroom  
and see what I can get."

Lev nodded. "Yes, good." he claimed and looked over to Allen, who had been standing there silently. "Allen, head to the gymnasium. Baseball bats, metal piping from the portable soccer goals."

"Brilliant." Jacob stated. "So y'all are gonna gather up the rest of us?"

"Yeah. Emily, Krystal.. Shawn, Derek.. everyone else we know." Lev explained.

"What about everyone else?" Jacob questioned.

"You can't save everyone else." Davis spoke up. "Save your closest friends first."

Jacob nodded in agreement. "Well said." He looked back to Lev. "So leader boy, ya ready to get this plan in action?"

"Let's roll." Lev adamantly decreed, as he exited the classroom followed by his friends.

Evan walked to Davis. "How the hell are you so calm about this shit?"

"I've been waiting for this day. I didn't know when it would come, but I figured it eventually would. Gotta be prepared for  
anything." he explained to Evan.

Evan shrugged and looked around the remainder of the classroom. Only a few students remained, trying to contact their homes via their cellphones. Sam just sat at her seat, crying into her desk with her head down. Evan sighed and began to walk to her, before the hand of Davis was placed on his shoulder, and pulled him back a bit. "There's no time for this. The weak die. It's survival of the fittest now, my brother."

Evan looked back at Davis. "I know I've been a douche to her in the past.. I need to redeem myself."

"Why?"

"Now that our lives have gone to hell, it may as well be a duty to tie up loose ends."

Davis chuckled. "What's your name, kid?"

"Evan." he replied and looked back to the sobbing Sam.

"Evan, what was the first thought that came to mind when you found out about this mess?"

"Getting outta here. Like those other guys, who want to see their families and go home."

"That'd be your gut extinct talking. You gotta trust your gut feelings, kid. Any hesitation can divert that, and result in the death of your loved ones, or even yourself. So I advise you, go with your gut feeling." he explained.

"So I just.. ditch her then?" he asked, as he gave a hopeless look to Davis.

"Now you got it. You don't owe anyone a damn thing anymore." he said and somehow managed a grin.

Evan nonchalantly obliged, and exited the classroom. Sam, overhearing the conversation, stood up and faced Davis. "You're a fucking monster, you know that?"

"Am I?" Davis asked rhetorically.

"You told him to blow off his true morals for that horse shit. You're a scumbag, kid." she sharply retorted.

He scoffed; "Get out of here, Sammy. You don't want to be caught with your pants down when the cannibalistic folk arrive."

Sam, who was extremely flustered, gave him a disturbed look. "You're a damn freak." she muttered, and walked past him  
out of the classroom. Davis looked to the remaining students and shrugged.

"You heard what she said, right? She said I'm a monster. The girl won't make it past today. She's too moody, bitchy, and such. It'll more than likely be the death of her. She'll be complaining and cussing out about something ridiculous, and attract a horde of true monsters. As for myself, I'm no monster. I'm a survivor."


	7. Turmoil

**Author Note:** Pardon my extended absence, I plead. I was three-fourths through this chapter a week ago, when my computer decided to freeze and classify my document as corrupt. I attempted to restore it, but my attempts were fruitless. So finally, I have re-finished this chapter. Enjoy, my fellow survivalists. Expect more - soon.

**Chapter 6**

_Turmoil_

"So we clear on the plan?" Lev asked his comrades; James, Jacob, and Allen. They all nodded. "Alright, I'll see you guys in thirty minutes, outside."

"Roger that." James replied. "Let's do it."

At that moment, the four teens went their separate ways. They each had a job to do. Almost immediately, Lev began to run down the hallway. He knew that his friends most likely wouldn't answer the phone, so he was tasked with alerting his friends in person. He had to find all of them. The first room he sprinted to was the Biology classroom, in the Science Wing of the school. He peered through the windows of the doors as he passed by. Finally, he spotted Emily. Immediately, Lev went to the door and began knocking on it like a madman.

"Open the door! Open the door! Come on!" he shouted as he turned the knob and attempted to pull it open, despite it being locked. "Open the door!"

Finally, the teacher unlocked and opened the door. "What's the matter with you?" he bitterly asked Lev. He did not respond, but instead walked past him into the classroom. "What are you doing? Hey!"

Emily saw Lev. She immediately knew that something happened. "Lev..?" she muttered.

"Emily!" he shouted and quickly walked over to her.

She stood up, "Lev, what are you doing?"

He suddenly pulled her into a hug. "God damn, I'm glad you're still here.." he muttered, his arms tightly around her figure.

Emily didn't return the hug, due to her confusion of his motives. "Lev, what's going on?"

Finally, Lev stepped back from the hug. "We gotta go, now!" he informed her.

"You!" the teacher shouted. "Get out of this classroom! What do you think you're doing?"

"Tell me what's going on, Lev. Alright?" she ordered in the most stern voice she could manage – which was little.

Lev shook his head. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you.. it's something really fucked up, Em. Back in the neighborhood.. shit is going crazy. Apparently all over the country too." he explained.

"Whatcha talking 'bout?" a student piped up.

"Enough of this!" the teacher shouted. "I don't care whether it's an administrative lockdown or not! Go back to your classroom immediately!"

"Emily, please just come with me." Lev pleaded, looking into her eyes.

"Lev.." she quietly began.

"Em.. please. We really have to go." he calmly stated. "I love you, Em. Come with me, please. Please."

"Ms. Cormalle, sit down at once!" the teacher shouted.

Emily looked back to the teacher, and then at Lev. "Let's just go."

Lev nodded, and took Emily by her hand. He led them to the front of the classroom, and out the door. As it closed behind them, she looked to him. "You better not be messing with me." she said.

"Though I wish I were." he claimed, and sighed afterward. "We have less than a half an hour to gather up our friends. There's a bus outside we're going to take, and get out of here. Alright?"

"Wait, Lev." she interrupted. "Tell me what's going on!" she exclaimed.

"Alright.." he began, "so some gas bombs went off in places all over the country. I think it's carrying some sort of virus, because it's been changing people. It's like, making them violent and such. It's happens to James' mom. He said that she took three bites out of his dad. Some of the students have gotten calls and texts from their families, outlining the chaos that's been happening this morning. And now they want us to get to New York City, for an evacuation from the country."

Emily tilted her head in confusion. "What..?"

Lev sighed and shook his head. "We only have a few days to leave. We need to gather up our friends, and go now. We have James, Jacob and Allen already recruited. Do you know where the others are? Krystal, Derek, Shawn, Lauren?"

"I don't know.. shit." Emily groaned. "Umm, I think Derek is in Chemistry." she suggested.

"Then chances are, he's texting. I'll get him to come out into the hall. No prob." Lev stated. "Alright, anyone else you're certain of?"

Emily shook her head in denial. "Not even Krystal?" he questioned.

She sighed; "Statistics. I think Katie is there too."

"I asked you if you knew where anybody was. Why would you claim you don't know where she is?" Lev asked.

Emily put her head down. She herself wasn't sure why she claimed she didn't know. She assumed it was because she was still angry with Krystal. "I don't know." she quietly responded.

Lev shook his head in disbelief. "James went outside to the buses. Go stay with him for now while I round up everyone else." he ordered, and turned to walk away. "Wait." Emily pleaded, causing Lev to halt. "You don't want me to come with you?" she quietly asked. Without hesitation, he said; "No. Wait for me outside with James.", and began walking down the hall again.

Emily had a few tears drop from her eyes. With the sum of the events that had occurred already, such as Lev being angry with her and the sudden change of pace where she is practically required to leave her home, she was left exhausted. As a few of her fresh watery tears hit the floor, she sighed aloud and leaned against the wall. She slid down and dropped to the floor, and sat back against the wall, followed by her putting her head down.

"Why is this happening?" she asked herself. "Why does this have to happen?" she repeated. She thought back to what Lev had told her. She recalled him mentioning that a virus is now sweeping the nation. He also had extended to say that it hit their neighborhood, and even infected James' mother. She bit his father three times. But what happened next? Did she kill him? Did he kill her? Are people really dying over this? She sighed once again, and let a few more tears drop. She couldn't even begin to fathom how such a travesty could occur. Finally, she stood up. She sulked down the hallway, and to the main lobby. There, she saw her principal arguing with another teacher, and James was also there standing aside.

"This is ludicrous!" the teacher shouted at the principal.

"Mr. Rulshak, what's going on?" Emily piped up, despite the fact she had a general idea of what is really happening in the country.

"Emily." James noticed her.

"Nothing, nothing at all." the principal claimed. "Go back to your class, now. We are under administrative lockdown." he sternly ordered.

"You need to cut that out." the teacher seethed, glaring at Rulshak. "We both know that our country is in danger. We have to leave and get to New York City."

Rulshak was surprised that the teacher knew that. "Who told you this?"

"A student got word of it. Plus, some students are being contacted by their parents, via cellphone. You can't lock these students up in the school." he stated angrily.

"You know what's going to happen out there? They'll die out there!" the principal shouted back. "I'm simply trying to keep the students safe."

The teacher shook his head, and turned to James and Emily. "You two. You need to get out there and wait at the bus. We're leaving in less than thirty minutes. Go ahead."

"Love the newfound courage, Vagadir." James stated, and grinned. He looked to Emily. "Let's go."

"No, no, no!" the principal shouted. "You cannot go out there!"

The two teens ignored his words, and headed outside. There, they saw two buses. Several teens had already near them. However, farther out in the field, they saw several more people, walking oddly and rather slowly. James took notice to this, and felt uneasy again. "Look at 'em, Emily."

She looked over and noticed the lurkers as well. "They're just people.. strangely strolling onto campus." she suggested.

James shook his head. "No, Emily.. I don't think so." he claimed. "They're them. Those people are those rioters."

Emily gave him a puzzled look. "Rioters?"

He nodded, "Yes. I assume these guys are no different from the ones in our neighborhood. They've become cannibalistic."

"Cannibalistic?" she asked in surprise. "Well, I'll take your word for it."

James nodded. "Come on, we gotta see what this commotion is about." he stated as he pointed to the group of teens by the buses.

Emily nodded in agreement, and the two began to walk over. "So, I heard about what happened." she mentioned.

"What do you mean?" he questioned.

"About your parents.." she sheepishly added, hoping he wouldn't become angry.

He sighed instead. "Ah. Lev told ya?"

She nodded. "Yes."

"I hope my dad is alright." he said sadly.

"I'm sure he is." Emily said, hoping to convince him.

As the two made it over to the buses, James noticed they seemed to be grouped around somebody. "What's going on?" James asked and stopped behind the group.

The group looked towards James and Emily. Some of them backed away, revealing two bloodied corpses. "What the fuck!" James shouted and back up from it, and Emily followed in suit. The one was lying on the ground, the one that they had surrounded. Its head had been smashed in, presumably by the blood soaked textbook that lied next to it. The other corpse was propped up against the bus, sat there with a bite mark in the neck. "What the hell happened?" James asked.

The one teen, whom looked to be a jock, spoke up; "I don't even know, man. This guy," he said as he pointed with his foot to the now headless corpse lying before them, "came outta nowhere. He had clear bites on his arm, and we offered to help him out. But then he bit Nick." he said, referring to the corpse lying against the bus.

"We heard about what's been going on." one of the girls stated. "And we heard about a way out. New York City harbor."

James nodded. "Indeed. We're commandeering a bus and heading that way soon." he said. Then he recalled that his dad was still out there. "But we gotta get back to our neighborhood. We gotta get our families together too."

"You know as well as I do that they're all dead." the jock claimed.

"They might not be." James suggested.

"They are." the jock retorted.

"Shut the fuck up." James snapped. "You have no idea what even happened in the neighborhood."

"I know that gas bombs were set off. I know that my folks didn't answer the phone. I know that they're fucking dead!" the jock shouted.

"That doesn't mean everyones' parents are dead." James argued. "My friends and I are going to take the bus back to our neighborhood before we head out to New York City."

"Count me in." a voice affirmed. James looked in the direction of its origination, and locked eyes with Mark Lanton.

James grinned to himself. "Marky Mark. Fancy meetin' you here."

"Hell, I just wanna get out of here." he commented.

"Yeah, I feel ya." James replied. "I'm surprised you're not tracking down Lauren though."

He shrugged. "Wouldn't know where to start."

"Come on now. If anyone knows where she is, it oughta be you." he teased.

Mark shrugged and didn't answer. James shook his head. "All about ourselves when it comes to it. Just like that Davis kid." he commented.

A groan was heard. The entire group looked to the 'corpse' that was sat against the bus. He began to seemingly awake. James immediately noticed that his skin color was off, and the pupils of his eyes were not present. His veins were were more easily seen than they would be for any normal human. James managed to connect the pieces together.

The jock knelt down next to his friend. "Nick, you alright? Talk to me, man."

"What the hell happened to him again?" James questioned, not taking his eyes off of Nick.

"This son of a bitch bit him." the jock responded, pointing out the headless corpse. "He didn't fall till we bashed in his head with a textbook."

James studied the corpse more closely and noticed that it also contained bite marks. He looked to Nick, and the bite marks were also on him. "Yo, get back!" he shouted, as he tugged on the jock's shoulder. The jock responded by brushing him away. He looked back to James. "What's your deal?" he shouted. His attention returned back to Nick; "Nick, come on, brother. Say something."

'Nick' looked up to his friend. He begin to lightly growl, and it was not long before it ascended to a louder tone. The jock just stared back at his friend. "What in the fuck..?" he muttered. Almost immediately, it lunged towards the jock. Just barely, did the jock manage to step back from him. "What the fuck?!" he shouted aloud. 'Nick' stood and stared at his friend. Several of the students backed up from the scene. 'Nick' lunged forward and grabbed the jock. Again, the jock stepped back away from his friend, but couldn't escape his grasp, causing him to fall back as 'Nick' toppled onto him. He lowered his head and opened his mouth. With an almost inhuman amount of strength, he tried biting into the jock's skin.

Thwack! 'Nick' went flying off of the jock, almost too late. There, with a bloodied textbook in hand, stood James. The jock, still lying on the ground, backed himself away from 'Nick'. "Jesus fuckin' Christ, what the hell is going on?!" he questioned aloud, panting.

"A real fucking disaster." James answered, and looked to the jock. "What's your name, roid-monkey?"

He ignored the insult, and barely managed out; "Kyle."

"Ah. I think you're on the football team with your buddy Nick, right?" he asked him, as he watched 'Nick' begin to attempt to stand.

Kyle nodded. "Yeah. We were."

"As you know, those gas bombs went off earlier this morning. I imagine it contained a virus of sorts, and it changes the person." he explained.

"That's fuckin' insane." Kyle commented.

"I couldn't agree more." James stated. "So the man that bit your buddy Nick. What happened prior to that?"

Kyle finally stood up and brushed himself off. "He spotted us and begged us to help him."

"Yeah, he said that he got bitten." Mark interrupted. "He had a few bite marks already. And then suddenly, the dude collapsed. Kind of just assumed he bled to death at that point."

"The bite.." repeated to himself quietly. He thought to himself that the bite has a connection in the changes of a person. The bite causes it. The gas bombs took hosts and most likely killed them off instantly, thus making them turn into the cannibalistic lurkers. And thus, the virus can be further spread through infectious bites, which is fitting for a cannibal. Immediately upon connecting those pieces of the puzzle together. James realized his father is no longer alive. He was most likely a cannibalistic lurker. James' breathing sped up, and he begin to turn red out of anger. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed that the lurker who used to be called Nick began to finally stand. "Arrrgh!" James grunted out of fury. He pulled the bloodied textbook back, and swung into its skull. The lurker fell back onto the ground, and seemed to writhe as it attempted to stand once more.

"Fuckin' die!" he yelled loudly, and slammed the book down into its skull. As he kept slamming the book into its head, the further he crushed its skull, leading to more blood gushing from it. Finally, he punctured the skull, causing his cranium to cave in from the repetitious impacts. Blood squirted all over James, and he dropped the red-tainted battered textbook. Chunks of brains were sprawled all around the ground and blood oozed from the remainder of the head. James wiped blood from his face, and had come to the realization of the actions he had just committed. He panted and feel to his knees, as he was exhausted and finally began to cool down again.

Emily stood there in shock, as did everyone else. Her mouth was gaped open. She couldn't believe what she just watched. Her boyfriend's best friend just decimated the skull of a person. But no, she reminded herself that it wasn't a human. It was a monster. She sulked over to the door of the bus and took great caution to avoid being near the corpses. "I'm just.. going to go sit on the bus." she muttered to the group. She took another step towards the bus and felt her world spinning. Her head was dizzy, and her vision was receding. Everything went black as Emily fell back down to Earth.

~z~

Another door of a classroom pulled open. Lev rushed into the room, past the teacher, and locked eyes with Krystal immediately. She noticed that the look he held.. was different. She knew something happened. But what could be so important to bring Lev across the school during an administrative lockdown?

Shawn, who was also present in the classroom, stood up. He as well knew that something was awry. "Lev, what are you doing here?" he questioned. Krystal gave Lev an anxious look. "Gas bombs went off. Everywhere." he quickly stated. Shawn just shook his head in disbelief. "You can't be serious, man."

Lev stomped up to him. "I'm not kidding around, dammit!" he snapped. Shawn jumped from Lev's initial yelling, and backed up a bit. "Okay, okay." he said, feeling uneasy. "What the hell happened though, Lev?"

The class, its students and teacher, remained silent as they awaited a response. "Gas bombs containing a virus were detonated. All over the country." he said and took a deep breath, attempting not to panic. "We need to get the hell out of here."

"All over the country..?" Krystal questioned. Lev nodded and said; "Everywhere. Even in our neighborhood."

Krystal immediately thought of her parents, and her brother. She wondered whether they were alright or not. "Where will we go?" she asked Lev. "Out of country. There's a way out of this mess." he explained. "Look, this virus isn't just some flu virus. It changes a person into a goddamn cannibal."

"A cannibal..?" she repeated in a questioning tone.

"James' mother went under the influence of the virus." he informed her. She responded with a gasp. "What? Seriously..?"

"Yeah. And then she attacked his dad. He had to kill her because she was relentless. It sounded like she wasn't even herself, Krystal."

"Jesus Christ.." she muttered and put her head down in her hands.

"Look, guys. We gotta go, now. There's no time." he stated.

"Where to?" Shawn asked.

"Out in front of the school. We're taking a bus out of this joint." said Lev.

Shawn nodded and ran to the door, followed by Lev. They looked back and noticed that the students were just silently staring at the two of them. Krystal still had her head down. "Shawn, head out there. James and Em should be waiting."

"But Krystal-" he began to say, but was interrupted, "I got her. Don't worry. Just go." he ordered. Shawn nodded and exited the room. Lev looked over at Krystal, and jogged over to her desk, past the observing students. "Krystal, let's go." he promptly said. When she did not respond, he placed his hand on her shoulder and shook her. "Krystal!"

She said something, but it was muffled and thus inaudible. "Krystal, come on." he prompted her once again, and shook her again. "Get up."

She slowly rose her head and looked up into Lev's eyes. "Are we going to die?"

Lev was taken aback by her question, and wanted to reject the possibility. However, it was just that. A possibility. By now, it seemed like anyone could die. He really couldn't answer Krystal's question. While he believed he wouldn't, he really had no idea. "We won't as long as we stick together." he answered.

Tears began to formulate in Krystal's eyes. He noticed and sighed, and held his hand out to her. "Come on." he pleaded in a soft voice. She stared at him for a few seconds, before finally putting her hand in his. She stood, and immediately went into his arms. A few more tears fell from her eyes. She could not believe what was happening. She began to pray that her family was alive. Nevertheless, she kept telling herself not to get her hopes up. She continued to softly weep to herself.

"Relax, Krystal." Lev reassured. "I'm going to keep us safe. All of us."

She hugged him even tighter. She wished she could tell him she loves him. He was there for her, even in the time of crisis. Moreover, she kept repeating to herself what Lev said; he was going to keep everyone safe. He was always a caring guy, she commented to herself. She knew that he could save everyone. There's a way to save everyone. There always is. Finally, she managed to assure herself that she'd get through this. She'd have her friends aside of her, and the love of her life. "Thank you, Levii." she added aloud.

Lev backed up from her and shared a slight smile. "My pleasure." he commented. "Now," he began, as his grin dissipated, "we gotta find the rest of our friends. Lauren, Derek-"

"Lauren is a few classes down the hall." she chimed.

"Oh. Well, alright." Lev said surprisingly, as he didn't expect that kind of response.

"Well, come on now. I mean, why wouldn't I know where she's at?" Krystal challenged.

"Fair enough. Let's roll." he stated, and they exited the classroom, leaving the silent class to themselves. They begin to take their steps down the hall, and were passed by a few running students. "Hey, you gotta outta here!" the one shouted as they stopped. "Haven't you heard what's going on outside?!" Lev nodded. "Yeah, we know. We're gathering up our friends. There's some buses out front. Head there." The student nodded, and turned and ran off, followed by the other students whom were accompanying them.

"We'd best hurry this up." Lev said to Krystal.

"Yeah, yeah." she said, feeling rushed. "Well, Katie has a class across the hall."

"Alright, I'll get her." he replied as they made it to the two doors that faced each other from each side of the hallway. "Okay." Krystal responded. As she turned towards the door, it flew open. Out ran several students. Lev noticed and witnessed the fleeing students. Krystal looked back to him. "Get Katie!" she shouted. He instantly snapped out of it, and begin pounding on the door across the hall. She looked back to the classroom in front of her, and entered before the door closed. Upon entering, she immediately noticed Lauren speaking in a panicked tone to a fellow classmate.

"Lauren!" she shouted. Lauren looked over at her friend. "Krystal.." she muttered and went into a hug with Krystal. "Thank God you're okay."

"I'm fine." she said, and backed away from her friend, but kept her arms on her. "So you already know what happened?"

"Of course." she replied.

"Alright, well we gotta go meet up with everyone else." Krystal stated.

"Wait now, where's everyone else then?" she asked.

"There's a bus outside. We gotta get to it, now." she stated as she grabbed Lauren's arm and began to tug her to the door of the classroom.

"Wait!" she said aloud, and broke Krysta's grip. "What about Eddie?"

"I don't know where he is." she stated. "We don't time for this-"

"Hang on, what the hell do you mean there's no time for this? We're finding Eddie before we go." she sternly said to Krystal.

"Alright, fine." she groaned. "But those buses are leaving really soon. And I don't want to be stuck here when they do."

"We'll make it in time, Krystal." she grunted. "Now come on." Lauren seethed as she passed by Krystal and headed out into the hall. Krystal followed suit, and as they entered the hall, out walked Lev and Katie from the classroom on the other side of the hallway.

"Katie." Krystal warmly said as she saw her friend. She marched up to her and they embraced in a hug.

"Hey Krystal." Katie returned, and retreated from the hug.

"Glad you're okay." she commented.

"We just need to find Derek." Lev blurted out.

"And Eddie." Lauren added.

"Right." Lev said.

"Down the hall, it's some Business Law class. Derek is there too." she informed him.

Lev was certainly surprised. "How do you know that?"

"Eddie told me about himself being bullied by that shithead." Lauren commented and sighed.

"Hey.." Katie muttered, but cleared her throat afterward. "Do you guys know where Bryan is?"

Krystal shook her head. "No, Katie. He doesn't need to come with us."

Katie sighed and looked down at her feet. "I can't just ditch him. He'll get mad.." she muttered.

"No, Katie. This needs to stop, and it needs to stop now." she said aloud. "Just forget about him. He's a douche, and you know that. You know that he'll just make our situation worse. You know him."

Katie didn't say anything, so the teens were silent for a few seconds. Suddenly, the lights flickered off. It was only a few seconds before they turned back on. The teens looked around, certainly confused. "Power outage." Lev stated.

"But the power came back on-" began Krystal.

"Back-up generator came on." he furthered. "Forget about that, we need to go. You three, head outside to the buses. I'll out soon. Alright?"

Lauren walked directly up to Lev. "Please make sure you bring him, alright?" she pleaded. Lev nodded. "I won't leave him behind. I promise you that."

Lauren nodded back, and she walked off, followed by Katie. Krystal looked back to Lev. "I'm really worried about Katie."

"Word has it, that Derek and Bryan share the same morning classes." Lev admitted. "So we're gonna be stuck with Bryan."

Krystal let out a deep sigh. "Make my day even worse." she muttered, as she placed her hands on her hips.

"Wait outside for me.. alright?" he asked of her.

"Yeah. Alright. How much time do we have left?" she questioned.

He whipped his phone out of his pocket. Upon doing so, he realized it wouldn't be long before phones became obsolete. "About ten minutes. So let's get going now." he suggested and looked to her. She nodded in agreement. "Alright. See you soon." she said. Lev nodded back, and turned away. He began to walk down the hall, when he was stopped by the grasp of Krystal, as she had grabbed his arm. She looked up at him. "Do you really think we'll survive this?"

He still wasn't sure whether they would survive or not. Nonetheless, he said; "Yes. We'll get through this." Krystal managed a smile. "Thank you." she said, and removed her hand from his arm. She turned away from him, and began to walk towards the lobby. As she did, several students ran by, each and every one of them in a panicked frenzy. By now, the majority of the student body had been aware of the chaos that was now ensuing in the world. The world would never be the same. Accepting that fact was an ardous task in itself.

Krystal headed outside, and began to walk towards the two buses. As she drew closer, a horrid stench filled the air. It had a rotten smell, as if someone had let a cut of ham out for months. However, the stench was fouler than that. Krystal began coughing upon getting nearer and nearer. It wasn't until she was right up to the group until she noticed the source of the horrifyingly terrible stench. There, below her at her feet, lie a corpse. It was bloody, and its head appeared to be decimated. She covered her mouth and felt sick to her stomach. Its gruesome sight was too much for her. "What the fuck!" she shouted, gaining the attention of those who remained outside. James, who was leaning against the side of the bus with his head down, heard her and looked up at her. She backed up from the corpse and began to hyperventilate. She knew many were going to die, but she didn't expect to see the mess that laid before her. James strolled up to his hurt friend. She looked up at him, still withholding the look of fear. "W-w-what happened?" she managed to stutter out.

"What's it look like?" he retorted and frowned.

"Jesus Christ.." she muttered, her heart beating a mile per minute.

"You'll be seeing a lot more of those, you know." he commented.

She nodded slightly. "I know.. it's just.. a horrifying sight."

"You didn't have to bash its brains out." he added, and looked away from Krystal.

She looked up at him, and pieced together that he killed that person. "Why?" she asked, visibly shaken.

"He wasn't a goddamn human. He was a monster." he explained, as the image of himself bashing out its brains played over and over again in his head.

"How was he a monster?" she questioned hysterically.

"He tried to kill us!" he shouted angrily. "If I didn't put him down, he would have kept trying to kill us! He almost killed Kyle!" he continued, as he pointed at the jock. He was silent and witnessed their argument. "I did what I had to! You know it'll happen again! Lev said he wants to keep everyone safe, so that's what I'm doing!"

Krystal backed up from James, decently scared by his anger. "Alright, James. Alright. Just relax." she softly suggested.

James looked back at Kyle and the few other teens standing with him. He looked back at Krystal and took a step towards her. Hushing his voice, he whispered; "Not all of us are going to make it to New York City. It's unrealistic."

"Why are you saying this?" she questioned, her voice still in hysterics.

"So," he continued, "it would be in your best benefit to prepare yourself for losses. Whether it be Derek, Kyle over there, Lauren, Lev.. you gotta be ready for it."

"I don't want anyone to die, so why the hell would I prepare for the possibility?"

"I'm not saying that's what will happen. I'm saying it's possible. None of us would die or all of us could die. And you need to accept that fact."

"You're crazy, James." she claimed, shaking her head at him.

"And you gotta be ready to bust some fuckin' heads open too." he furthered.

"I won't kill anybody." she argued.

"You might have to." a familiar voice chimed. The two looked over, and there Davis stood before. James nodded at him and then looked back to Krystal. "He's right." he commented.

Krystal then took her turn to look over at Davis. "Who are you?"

"Just a regular kid, looking to survive." he stated. "And I'll do whatever is necessary to accomplish that." He looked over and saw the two headless corpses that lied there. "What happened here?" he asked James, in a surprising calmed tone.

"They caught the virus. The one already had it, but then he bit him." he explained, pointing to the teen's corpse that was relatively close to them. "So then he was infected with the virus, and he as well began to attack. He almost killed one of us, but I had to.. you know, take care of it."

Davis nodded understandably. "It happens. At least it does nowadays." he commented and then looked to Krystal. "You should know this means you'll be seeing a lot of death."

She sighed in response to his statement. She knew he was correct. "I just don't want to.." she said softly and looked back down at the corpse for a mere second before looking back up at Davis.

"I know." he stated. "Nor do I. Soon, it'll become customary though."

At that moment, out of the school came Lev, followed by Derek and Eddie. The remaining teens looked over as the others strolled over. Krystal was happy to see him again, but wasn't able to portray her happiness. Her mind was corrupted by the images of the grotesque kind.

"Ah, Lev. You've arrived." Davis stated and shared a slight grin.

"No shit.." Derek muttered, as he looked to the nearby corpse. "What the hell happened to this guy?"

James sighed and shrugged. "I killed him." he stated and glared at the other teens.

Lev, followed by Derek and especially, gasped at his statement. He hadn't missed a beat when he said it either. "No shit.." Derek muttered again.

"Why?" Lev asked.

"He wasn't a normal student anymore, Lev. Remember what I said happened to my mom? Same thing happened to this kid." he explained.

"Did he bite anyone..?" Lev furthered in questions.

"Almost. I stopped him before he did." he said. "I think he caught this virus through a bite from that guy." he went on, and pointed out the other corpse.

"You're right." Davis claimed and nodded.

"How would you know that's a fact?" Derek questioned him.

Lev looked to Derek, and then back to Davis. "The rest of you, head to the bus."

"What?" Derek asked confusedly.

"Head to the bus." he asserted as he shot Derek a glance.

"What about you?" he asked.

"I have things to discuss with Davis. James, stay with us for a sec." Lev affirmed and glared at Derek.

He nodded in acceptance. "You heard the big guy. Let's get on that bus."

Just as Derek turned away, a rough voice was heard; "Wait up!" was shouted. Lev glanced over at the source of it. It was Bryan Sorchelli, Katie's abusive boyfriend.

Krystal looked over at Lev. "So much for shaking him." she groaned. "Come on, Ed." she beckoned.

Eddie nodded and fidgeted slightly. "Yeah, sure. Is Lauren here..?" he asked as his voice trailed off.

Krystal gave Eddie a knowing look and grimaced. "Yeah. I told you that already. Let's go, kid."

As they retreated to the bus, Bryan made his way over to the remaining teens. Derek held his hand out, and they shook hands and went in for a slight hug. Upon backing from it, Derek grinned at Bryan. "Good to see you're back again."

Bryan nodded. "Well, if your bud Levi didn't give me improper directions to the students' parking lot rather than the teachers' parking lot, I woulda been here sooner." he explained, and glared at Lev.

"My bad." he muttered. "What matters is that you're here now."

"No help from you." he retorted.

"Screw you, douchebag." Lev spat.

Bryan attempted to get closer to Lev, most likely to punch him, but was held back by Derek. "Hey, hey, hey!" he shouted. "Calm the hell down, both of ya."

"Bit of a conflict here, eh boys?" Davis suggested and crossed his arms.

"Yeah, you could say that." Lev added, glaring at Bryan.

"Prick." Bryan muttered as he shoved off Derek's grasp.

"Relax." Derek ordered sternly. "Alright?"

"Don't mind 'em." James requested, and rubbed the back of his neck with his hand.

"So y'all got everyone now?" Davis questioned.

Lev looked back to the bus and back to Davis. He named off all his friends.. and fell short by two names. "Allen and Jacob. Where are they?" he asked and looked to James.

James shook his head. "Don't worry. They came out early with all kinds of goodies."

Lev sighed and relaxed. "Alright. Good. We're ready to go then."

James looked at Bryan and Derek. "Can you guys wait for us on the bus?"

"Why?" Derek asked.

James shrugged, and looked to Lev. They exchanged glances before James looked back to the duo. "Just go, okay?"

"Sure thing." he responded. "Come on, Bry."

"Hey, Katie on board?" Bryan asked Lev.

"Yes." he answered.

Bryan grinned and nodded at Lev. "At least you're somewhat useful." he commented. He turned away, followed by Derek.

Lev shook his head at Bryan's remark. "Hey, Derek." he called.

"Yeah?" he asked as he turned back at Lev.

"Keep an eye on Bryan. Don't want him hitting any girls." he bitterly replied.

Bryan, who was instantly infuriated, spun right around and began walking towards Lev. "What the fuck did you just say?" Derek immediately sprung up, and grabbed Bryan. He rounded in front of him, and held him back from Lev. "Chill, chill, chill." he repeated at Bryan as he looked at him.

"You heard me, asshole." Lev barked. Bryan tried to break Derek's grasp, but alas could not. James pulled Lev back and looked him in the eye. "You need to stop. Alright?"

"I ain't afraid to kick your ass, you cocky little prick." Bryan shouted at Lev. Derek pushed him back. "Let's just get on the bus. Come on."

"You watch your goddamn mouth." he ordered and turned away towards the bus. Derek shot Lev a glance and shook his head in disapproval. "Whatever.." muttered Lev.

James shook his head at his friend. "What was that?"

"What do you mean?" he replied.

"You know what the hell I mean." James retorted. "Why couldn't you keep your mouth shut? Stir up a situation and almost get your ass kicked. Hell, if Derek didn't stop him, he would've bulldozed your ass."

"You wouldn't have helped to stop him? Thanks for that, wingman." he grunted.

"Truth be told, he woulda ran me over too." he added and shrugged.

"I'm only surprised you didn't attract any zombies." Davis commented.

Lev and James looked at each other, and stared at Davis. "Zombies?" Lev questioned.

"Zombies." Davis answered. "That's what they are."

"Not possible." James replied.

"What do you know about zombies, James?" Davis questioned.

James shook his head. "What?"

"Tell me every single thing you know about zombies." he said.

"They.. they... they are cannibals." he stated.

"They feed off of any living thing they possibly can. So do these guys." he commented as he pointed to the nearby corpse of the student.

"They.. they spread the infection through bites." James added.

"Why yes, they do." he said and clapped his hands together. "And as you see, and explained, exactly that has happened here."

"I'll be damned.." James muttered and put his head down.

"Zombies, my friend." he repeated.

"So that settles it. By the time we make it back to the neighborhood, my father will be one of them. A goddamn zombie." he groaned.

Davis shrugged. "I'm sorry for your loss. We've all lost someone already."

James looked to Davis. "What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Lev understood what Davis was referring to. "It means by the time we make it to the neighborhood, most, if not all, of our families will be dead." he stated and glanced at James. "Including my step-dad."

"You don't seem too distressed." Davis commented.

"No reason to be." Lev claimed, and sighed.

James shrugged. "Well, I know that my folks are long gone." he muttered. He cleared his throat and looked to Lev. "But our friends might still have some family members remaining. This means we're still going back to the neighborhood."

"I agree." he said.

"And then y'all are headed to Quarantine, right?" Davis questioned.

Lev nodded. "Yeah. But you're making it sound like you're not coming with us."

"Very observant, Lev. I like that." he praised.

"Why wouldn't you come with us? We can get out of this hellhole." Lev argued.

"There's no way out, Lev. There never will be." Davis claimed.

He frowned at Davis' poor response. "Why do you figure that?"

"I've been expecting this apocalypse for a long time, Lev. This president is not as useful as I originally thought. Placing an avenue of escape in a populated city is a horrendous idea." he began to explain. "You know what happens when someone is bitten? They turn. It cannot be changed, unless they're put down. See, somebody will die in New York City. Maybe a wife, or a girlfriend, or a daughter. Then that husband or boyfriend or father will cradle them in disbelief. It's far too soon for people to accept their loved ones just died for nothing. So when they reanimate as the undead creatures they become, they'll most likely just bite that person. Point being, the number of zombies will increase exponentially."

"I've just about accepted it." James mentioned.

"Bullshit." Davis called out. "As soon as you see your father as flesh-eating lurker, that'll change."

James stood there in shock at what Davis had said. His breathing speed picked up, and he felt himself become angry. He pointed his finger out directly at him. "You're full of shit, Davis. Shut your fuckin' mouth about my folks."

Davis glanced at him. "Case and point. You don't want to accept it even now."

James exhaled, and rubbed his hands together. "You have no idea how badly I'm craving punching you in the face."

Davis frowned. "Anger makes a person blind. Blindness is a disability that will typically result in death in this new world."

"Smart-ass." James muttered. "I'm glad we're leaving this dickweed behind." he stated and glanced at Lev. "I'll be on the bus. So hurry it up." he implored. James then turned away and headed towards the bus.

"He became something furious, huh?" Davis commented.

"No shit. You shouldn't have said anything like that." Lev suggested.

"You know, you're one lucky kid." he replied.

Sudden change of subject didn't go unnoticed by Lev. Nevertheless, he asked; "Why?"

"By the sound of it, your only family is your step-father." he replied.

"I wouldn't necessarily say 'family', but alright. What's your point?" asked Lev.

"You haven't lost anyone, in that case." he answered.

"So? Why bring this up?"

"Unless something goes horribly wrong prior, you won't have felt the pain of losing a loved one early on. But when you do, it'll hit hard. Till then, you need to be there for your friends for when they lose theirs." he explained.

Lev frowned again and looked Davis in the eyes. "You certainly tell it how it is, don't ya? Well, allow me to do the same."

"Go right ahead." Davis offered.

"You're right, I haven't lost anyone. I want to protect everyone, and I will do so no matter what. I will not allow my friends to falter. Mark my words, Davis. I will not let it happen." he stated.

Davis nodded and grinned at him. "Your pride is impressive. I commend you for it."

"And about this bullshit about me never having had lost anyone," Lev began, "it's false. I lost my mom years ago. And there isn't one goddamn day I don't think about it. When I'd go home and look at my scumbag of a step-father, I'd find myself reminded of that. So don't spew your bullshit about me not knowing how it feels to lose somebody. I'm ready for whatever the world hands me. Goodbye, Davis." he finished, and began to walk towards the school bus.

"Wait." Davis cooed. Though against the idea of talking to Davis any longer, Lev found himself facing him once again. "What?"

Davis walked up to him. "I'll make this simple, Lev. Do not go to Quarantine."

Lev gave him a puzzled look. "Pardon?"

"You know what I said, Lev. Don't make the mistake of traveling to Quarantine."

"Mistake? How the hell is escaping this country of zombies a mistake?" he questioned.

"That's just it. You won't escape." he claimed.

"Why not?" Lev asked.

"Cities aren't invincible. A highly populated area is dangerous. A zombie successfully infects a human. Originally one, now two. Two can very easily become four. Four become eight when facing those unprepared. Eight is a crowd. Sixteen is an even bigger crowd. As I said, the numbers of zombies will increase exponentially. Realistically, it can very easily outweigh the human population in this country. And if given enough time.. the world." he explained. "Get whoever is left of your friends' families and come back to Kolamn highschool."

"Absolutely not." Lev replied. "Why would you help locate transportation for Quarantine if you don't want us to go to Quarantine?"

"I was hoping to convince you to just pick up your families and return. If we could get all these together, we could fortify this school. It's almost literally a fortress." he explained further.

"Ridiculous." Lev claimed.

"Come on now. Just think about the advantages." he pleaded.

"Davis." Lev said, shaking his head.

"Yes?" he asked.

Lev held his hand out. "Farewell, Davis."

Davis frowned out of sadness at Lev's decision. "Very well." he replied and shook Lev's hand. "Just remember what I said."

"I won't forget." Lev stated. "Thanks for your help."

"Just doing my part." he stated and shrugged.

Lev nodded at him, and turned away. He walked towards the bus, and past the two corpses from earlier. He knew he'd be seeing more. A lot more. He stepped up the stairs of the bus, and spotted Mr. Vagadir in the driver's seat.

"Finally. We're ready to go." the teacher chimed and started up the ignition of the bus.

"Yeah. Let's get a move on." Lev muttered and looked at the students on the bus. They were all looking at him, his friends, acquaintances, and strangers. All students from the highschool looking for a way out from the chaos that now engulfed their lives. They were all seated with their friends, but unlike a normal morning bus ride, none of them spoke a word. Lev stepped his way down the aisle, passing students as he went. He saw Allen and Jacob, withholding a decent amount of poles, planks, and pipes. As he walked past them, he snatched up a piping from a dismantled soccer goal from their seat. He walked to the back of the bus and passed most of his friends. He took his place next to Emily, and she immediately rested her head on his shoulder. He shuffled the metal piping to his left hand, and put his right arm around his girlfriend before leaning his head on hers.

Krystal peered at them from the seat behind them. She was in the midst of trying to make a little pact with God in order to protect her parents. She tried calling prior when she made it onto the bus, but the home phones were down due to the power outage. She sighed, and ended up praying that God gives her family safety. Afterward, she looked over to Lauren, and Lauren looked back at her. They exchanged glances before looking elsewhere. Lauren looked out the window. The image of their highschool began to shrink as the school bus pulled away. As the bus roared off of campus, she noticed that the lurkers outside were turning towards the bus as it zoomed by. "Hey." she said quietly to her friend as she tapped her leg. Krystal looked over at Lauren. "Yeah?"

"Those things.. they're just watching us go by. It's like they can't run or something." Lauren whispered.

"Wouldn't surprise me any." Eddie chimed, from the seat behind the two girls.

"Thanks for input, Eddie." Krystal muttered in a sarcastic tone and looked off elsewhere once again.

Eddie sighed and leaned back in his seat. Lauren kept gazing out the window as the bus went by. Krystal, looking forward at Lev now, wasn't sure how to feel about Lev. She still had feelings for him, but she was more so worried about her family. She presumed Lev would stay tied to Emily throughout the journey. She sighed and reminded herself how desperately she craved his touch, especially since there's the possibility her family is dead. "No – it can't be possibility. They're still alive. I know it." she thought to herself. The girl thought about her family. That's all she could think about. That's all everyone could think about. Everyone was worried beyond belief about their families.

The only exception was Lev. His family ended years ago. He was simply worried about his friends. That is all he's ever been worried about.

_"Him and I shared a similar goal by the end of our journey. We wanted to keep them safe. We didn't keep everyone safe. It was unfortunate, yes. I kept some of them safe though. That's what matters. There is no point in dwelling in those lost. We must moved on and live another day. We must for those that remain living, and for ourselves."_


	8. Close Call

**Chapter 7**

_Close Call_

"Comrade, you disappoint me." a rough, masculine voice spoke. He was in the driver's seat, holding a cigarette in one hand as he steered the wheel.

In the passenger seat, sat the man in green. He looked to the driver, who shared the same attire as his own, the only difference being the driver's jet black hair and finely grown puffy mustache. "Are you still complaining about the supply of cigarettes I've provided?"

"Yes, comrade. I am. I could have went in and gotten many more myself. I probably should have went in with you." the driver complained.

"They're crap anyway." the man in green stated.

"So, did you run into any of those monsters?" the driver asked.

The man in green nodded. "Yes. I shot two."

"Very nice, partner." the driver complimented.

"Oh, don't flatter me. It was nothing. They had no time to react." he stated.

"Hmph. Do they react faster than the average human?" the driver asked.

"No." the man answered.

"You and your slaughter-fests, eh Marshal?" the driver joked.

He shook his head in response. "I only kill when necessary. You know that."

"Of course, of course." the driver repeated and sighed. "Let me ask you this – do you ever feel any remorse for killing?"

"Of course not. They all die eventually. Only more so easily since this morning." Marshal answered. "Do you feel remorse for those you kill?"

"Nope. Whether it be human or monster, I'll happily shoot them for as long as I please my countrymen." he claimed with pride.

"Well said." Marshal commented. "Tell me, do you know anything about our target?"

"Operation Bluefold, right?" the driver questioned.

"Yes." Marshal answered.

"All I know is that he is important enough to the Commander for being wanted dead. Even in time of crisis."

"Do you figure why?"

"We're not under orders to imagine why they are wanted dead, Marshal. Are you feeling sympathy?" he asked and glanced over at Marshal.

"Your hypothesis is ludicrous, comrade. Disregard my quizzical self, as I've seen more than enough bloodshed this morning than I have in the past month." he described.

"I understand. With that being said, there certainly is a surplus of corpses." the driver commented.

"A lot more people than necessary are meeting death." Marshal added.

"There you go with that sympathy thing again, comrade. Don't make me shoot you in the head for being a proper mess." he jested and grinned at his comrade.

Marshal brushed off his partner's alleged accusations. "I have but one question about this ordeal."

"And that'd be?" the driver asked and looked at Marshal.

"Who set this pandemic in motion?" he replied and look out his window.

"You presume it did not happen naturally?" the driver asked.

"Naturally? Gas bombs do not naturally formulate over time." Marshal stated.

"You make good point." the driver commented and chuckled.

"With that being said, someone clearly set this conflict in motion. But for what heinous goal? Even our Commander or his higher-up would not commit such a disastrous act." he claimed.

"You make good point, yet again." the driver repeated.

"It would take a true madman to do such a thing." Marshal added.

"A being more wicked than us?" the driver questioned, faking being offended.

"Tenfold on the wickedness." Marshal replied.

"And here we are, going forward with Operation Bluefold in the face of danger. In the faces of monsters once human." the driver chimed.

"So then tell me, what more do you know about our target?" he asked the driver.

"Fine. I know he takes a CEO position in a particularly favored corporation." he finally answered.

"CEO of corporation? Which one?" Marshal asked.

"Even that information evades my grasp." the driver admitted.

"I did not Commander had libertarian views on the American government." Marshal joked, yet didn't crack a smile.

"Oh?" the driver questioned, obviously puzzled.

"A liberal wants to take down corporations." he explained. "By the sounds of it, Commander wants us to do the same. He's practically emulating a libertarian idiot." he recited with a thick accent.

The driver laughed at his partner's comment for a good while, even until his own eyes were swept with tears. He wiped them away eventually. "Marshal, you're due for a spine." he jested and laughed some more.

Marshal shrugged and crossed his arms. "Pardon me. I'm simply unhappy about our lack of supply of finely crafted cigars. Motherlands." he complained.

"Even so, if Commander heard such slander you spoke, he would probably execute you. No matter how well of a marksman you really are." the driver commented and smirked at Marshal.

Marshal began to pull out a case of cigarettes from his trench coat. "At least it would be quick and without pain. Hopefully."

"I would not be so sure about that, comrade." the driver mentioned. "You recall what happened during Operation Skewline."

Marshal cringed at the mention of that. "Maybe I felt a bit of sympathy for that target. It was brutal." he muttered.

"Couldn't blame you, to be honest. He screamed for a few hours, especially after being kept awake by those rushes of adrenaline." the driver explained. He spotted a crowd of what seemed to be people, and took a tight turn to the right. "Bastards.." he muttered.

"Must be them. Those 'undead'." Marshal guessed.

"Probably." the driver replied. He took a left turn, and began driving through an urban residential area, a town. As they cruised through, they saw many cars pulled over, some smashed into the poles and others crashed into the buildings aside. Several stacks of smoke billowed from the town buildings as well. Plus, as expected, many corpses lined the street as well. Said corpses were accompanied by even more zombies. It was truly an onslaught. As they drove down the road, many of the zombies turned towards them. They began to crowd the street in front of them. "Bastards!" the driver yelled. He twisted the wheel left and swerved the car into a spin. He quickly began looking around the area, where he shortly after located an alley way. The driver stepped on the gas pedal, and rushed down the alley way before the zombies swarmed the car. The car came roaring out of the alley, and was quickly greeted by another wave of zombies.

"Get us out here!" Marshal yelled.

"I'm on it, I'm on it!" the driver yelled back. He put the car into gear again, and accelerated, running down several zombies. "Die, you bastards." he angrily muttered.

"Get us out of this goddamn town." he grunted in response.

"If I wanted to be nagged, I would have gotten married. So shut up!" the driver argued. He spotted some woodlands in the distance, a few blocks down. He immediately spun a right and charged in that direction. "If I'm right, this'll take us to the freeway. Can't be as hectic out there."

"Faster, comrade. Drive comrade." Marshal continued to nag.

"Yes, my dear." he annoyingly teased and stomped on the gas pedal. She dodged the several zombies that wandered into the road from hearing the engine of the car.

"Right there!" Marshal shouted and pointed to a gap in the foliage. "Floor it!"

"This is reason why muzzles exist." the driver furthered complained. He crushed the gas pedal to the carpeted floor of the car, and it sped up considerably. The driver turned the car towards the space in the trees and rid it up the incline. It was a short experience, as the two men found the car airborne, soaring over the freeway. The car began to turn slightly, due to the hilly incline it rid off of. The car landed in the other lane, and the driver immediately turned it to stop it from rolling. It began to hydroplane on the wet road, and twisted around into a bastion of cars.

Marshal found himself falling into unconsciousness, but found it abruptly stopped by the growl of a monster. He looked over to the driver, who seemed to be out cold. "Son of a whore.." Marshal muttered, and tried to open his door, where he found it to be jammed shut. He looked through the back window of the vehicle, and saw about five zombies lurking their way to the car. Upon slamming against his car door again, he noticed a zombie, bashing his hands against the window. Marshal was startled and jumped back a bit. He went for his pistol, but stopped. He knew that it'd initially be bad idea to shoot off his gun. He couldn't risk an even bigger swarm of lurkers showing up. He sighed, and turned around to the backseat of the car. He grabbed a sturdy metal pipe and noticed the several zombies had the vehicle encircled. Upon reaching for it, he noticed another zombie halfway through the broken window on behind the passenger seat, in the back of the car. Marshal immediately brought his pipe up and introduced it to the zombie's skull. He repeatedly shanked it into its skull until the zombie's motions were annulled. He took a short breather, and observed his surroundings once again. The zombies still had the vehicle surrounded. He lightly tapped against the left side of the back car seat's window, in order to divert the zombies' attention. Four of them fell for his ploy, while two remained outside of his passenger door, and another behind the vehicle. The four of them were banging against the window, practically pleading to be let into the car for a potential meal.

"That'll do.." Marshal muttered. He retreated back to the passenger seat of the car, and placed the metal pipe against the dashboard. He pushed against the car door, and noted one of its hinges were loose. He turned his attention towards the dashboard, and opened it. He searched through it, tossing aside napkins and car registration forms and other miscellaneous junk. Finally, he came across a hammer tool, typically reserved for easily smashing open car windows. He knew he could force off the car door, but the zombie outside of it would simply serve as a distraction. Perhaps even long enough for the others to swoop in and grab him. Marshal pulled the hammer back in his right hand, and grasped onto the pipe with his left hand. He sprung his arm out, and smashes the window into pieces. He released the hammer, and with aid of his now available right hand, he slug the pipe up and pierced the zombie's skull with one clean swipe.

He slammed his body into the car door, and it broke off of its last available hinge. Unprepared for the ease he had in escaping the vehicle, Marshal found himself falling onto the ground with the car door. He could not stand quick enough before he saw the zombie leaning down for himself. He kicked it back, where it fell onto its back. Marshal grabbed the metal rod and stood up. As the zombie began to get up from the ground, its head was quickly punctured by the pipe. Upon pulling it from the decimated head, he noticed that the zombie whom was behind the vehicle was now in front of him. As it reached for him, he held the rod out horizontally and stopped its reach short. However, it gripped the pipe, and its grip was literally a death-grip. Marshal attempted to pull it from the zombie, but found it fruitless. He swiftly pulled a sharp dagger from the holster on his left hip and stabbed into its skull. Considering the first blow didn't quite do it, he stabbed into twice more before the grip was reduced to nothing and it toppled onto the prior zombie. Marshal took a few breaths and placed the knife back in its holster. He bent down and grabbed the metal pipe before walking his way around the back of the vehicle.

Marshal lunged at the nearest of the four with the pipe and thrusted it directly into the zombie's cranium. Upon pulling it out, a stream of blood squirted onto Marshal, followed by chunks of brain matter. As it fell lifelessly to the ground, the other three took notice. As the one reached out for Marshal, he swung the pipe into its skull, pushing the zombie against the vehicle. He then stuck the metal pipe into its side and shoved it into one of the other zombies, causing the duo to collapse onto the ground. The final one attempted to thwart Marshal, but was inevitably vanquished by a quick swipe to the head. The duo of zombies attempted to stand, but Marshal quickly put them down via sticking them with his metal rod.

Marshal looked around at the seven corpses. His green trench coat was now drenched in blood. It reminded him of the sight of the gas station he saw just under an hour ago. He sighed and shuffled his feet to the driver's door. He looked around once more to ensure a zombie wouldn't creep up on him. Upon seeing no zombies in the vicinity, he opened the door to the driver's seat, where he was still sat and unconscious. "Wake up." he prompted as he shook his partner. "Domino, wake up!" he shouted.

After a few second, his partner began to come to again. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. He look over at Marshal. "What.. what the hell happened?"

"Got ourselves in a bit of a jam. This car is done. I'm not risking riding in this junker." Marshal stated.

"What's wrong with it? Just a few scrapes." Domino replied.

Marshal leaned on the side of the car. "Look again."

Domino complied and looked to his right. The door was missing. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw a corpse leaning into the car window, and its head was obliterated. Blood had leaked all over the back of the car. He shrugged and stepped out of the car, where he noticed the several other corpses laying around the vehicle. "I see your point." he mentioned.

"I would hope so." Marshal retorted. "Let's find a new car. Preferably something bulkier, in the case of us driving through a densely populated town again."

Domino picked up on his remark. "Oh, shut it, will you? I'll find us a car." he replied, and looked upon the mass pile-up of cars. Majority of them had smashed windows and multiple dents. Of course, they were also coated in blood.

"Grab the gas canisters." Marshal ordered. "We may need them."

Domino obliged and went to the back of the black four-door. He popped open the trunk and took out two gas canisters, one in each hand. They walked down the freeway, around the cars and corpses for a few minutes.

"Zombie." Marshal said to his partner in a hushed tone and pointed behind a car. It had already noticed them and was limping towards them. Domino unsheathed his knife and walked towards it. As it extended its arms, Domino shoved the knife into its head, dropping the zombie instantly. He returned his knife back to its sheathe. After another minute of walking, they came before a car that looked to be in decent condition, more or less.

"She's hideous." Domino stated as he looked at the neon green SUV that was there before their eyes. "Nevertheless, she's perfect."

"Atrocious indeed." Marshal agreed. They walked closer to the car, where they realized a body was in the driver's seat, its head lying on the steering wheel. There was blood and shattered glass present all over the site. Marshal brought the metal rod up in his hands. "Open the door." he said to his partner.

Domino tiptoed his way to the car door, and whipped it open. When he did, the body began to slowly move. "You nailed that one, comrade." he mentioned, decently impressed.

Marshal sighed and surveyed the body as it began to lean off of the wheel. "Literally." he stated, and on that mark, he impaled the zombie in the side of the head with the metal rod. He tried to pull it out, but it was stuck in its skull. Blood leaked from the gaping hole the pipe had created. He pulled harder on the zombie, and pulled it out of the car and it fell to the ground.

"You might wanna get that back." Domino suggested, referring to the rod sticking out of the zombie's head.

"Are the keys present?" Marshal asked his partner as he placed one of his feet on the head of the monster.

"Yeah. Gas is a bit low. I gotta transfer some now." he replied.

"Go right ahead. I'll keep watch." Marshal responded, as he tugged the metal rod out of the face of the corpse. It left a abnormally large hole in its face, and by now, the end of his rod was dyed in crimson. Meanwhile, his partner opened the hatch to the gas, and poured the gas from the first canister into the tank. He tossed the container aside, and poured the second canister's content into the gas tank. After tossing that one aside as well, he hopped into the driver's seat and closed the door. Marshal followed suit and entered the passenger side. Domino started the car, and began to accelerate, weaving his way through what seemed to be a maze of a traffic jam.

Finally, they managed to escape the pile-up, and began to cruise down the highway. They passed occasional car, and a few zombies too. Domino glanced at Marshal, and recalled the sight of several dead zombies when he awoke.

"So you had yourself a bit of a slaughter-fest, huh?"

"You could say that." Marshal replied.

"You loved it, right? Was it thrilling?" he asked further, seemingly excitedly too.

Marshal looked over at his partner. "Are you asking me if I enjoy killing?"

Domino, a bit nervously, chuckled and shrugged. "Well, um.. yeah."

"I feel indifferent about killing. Especially when it comes to killing these freaks." he commented.

"Preach it, comrade." his partner teased and chuckled lightly.

"Silence." Marshal ordered. He looked off to the side of the road, and spotted a sign that lead into a town that would be ahead on the ramp off of the highway.

Domino noticed too. "Hey, want to go shopping?" he joked.

"Maybe it is I who will shoot you in the head." Marshal muttered.

"Is it because you enjoy killing?" he questioned once again.

"No. It is because you lack a brain, in which you could actually be useful with. Consider yourself my chauffeur." Marshal teased, yet retained his frown.

"Ah, my apologies. I did not realize today was 'National Be-a-Scumbag Day'." he jokingly retorted.

"No problem." Marshal reassured.

Domino sighed and chuckled a bit. "Clever you."

As the SUV they had in their possession proceeded down the road. Marshal eyed a police car that was among other abandoned cars. "Squad car on the right." he announced.

His partner immediately pulled the car to right and halted it. The two exited the car and walked towards the police car. "Keep an eye out for lurkers." Domino ordered. Marshal nodded and glanced around the surrounding area as he tightly grasped onto his metal rod. Domino tried to open the car door, but found it to be locked. He thought about taking out his pistol and smashing the window, but he recalled that the car most likely has an alarm set. He instead peered into the car through the window. He checked the ignition for its key, but did not find it. "Bastard.." he muttered, visibly flustered. He looked to the backseat and noted the metal fence dividing the front and back. After viewing the backseat, he found nothing of beneficial use. His intentions were to enter the trunk. He knew tearing the backseat out was considered to be a very arduous task, especially under the pressure of the car alarm. He also knew that tearing the back seat of a police cruiser was something that even he himself considered to be impossible. Despite this, he walked back to the trunk and attempted to open it. No such luck.

He pondered on how he would access the trunk. He figured out a possible answer, and looked to Marshal, whom was still watching out for lurkers. "Keys are not present. We need to break in the trunk. Find a toolkit." he ordered to Marshal. He turned to his partner and nodded. The two of them began to look car to car in hopes of finding a toolkit.

"Domino, over here." Marshal called. His partner waltzed over to him. They were in front of a tow truck. "I'll cover you again." he stated as he patted the metal rod in his hands. Domino shattered the truck's window with the butt of the pistol once again, and unlocked the door. After swinging it open, he crawled into the truck and began to shuffle through its contents, in search of a basic toolkit. Suddenly, growls were heard. Marshal looked to his left, and saw three lurkers headed in their direction. Metal rod in hand, he stalked over to the small crowd. He charged the rod back, and unleashed into the first lurker's head. As the dead lurker fell back, the second reached out for Marshal. In retaliation, he swung the metal rod at its hands, and connected. The lurker spun to an ninety-degree angle and turned back towards Marshal. He noticed that his swing of fury had taken off one of its hands entirely. He whipped the metal rod directly into its face, and knocked it onto the ground. The third lurker attempted to grab him, but backstepped and held the rod pointed at it. He thrusted and punctured its skull, followed by swiftly pulling the rod out of the zombie. Blood squirted on Marshal's already red-stained tunic, and partially on his face. With his sleeve, he wiped off the crimson liquid. He sighed and turned towards the tow truck. On that note, Domino returned from the truck, a toolkit in hand. He beckoned Marshal to come to him. Marshal stepped forward, but felt his other foot stuck. When he looked back, he saw it was one of the lurkers he didn't successfully kill. It had Marshal's boot in grasp. It roared and bit into his boot. Marshal began to panic and swung the metal piping at it, but wasn't fully able to reach it. The lurker returned with leather encased in its teeth, and went back at his boot once again. Marshal was about to swing again, when the lurker's head suddenly half-exploded. Marshal shook its death grip and looked over at Domino. He had his pistol held out at the zombie.

"Thanks." Marshal paid his gratitude, though a bit sheepishly. Marshal began to step towards his partner.

"Hey, he bite you?" Domino hastily questioned. "You got a lot of blood on you, comrade."

"No." Marshal replied. "The leather was too thick for its teeth to sink through."

"Alright, good. Came close to losing you, partner." Domino sighed, thankful that Marshal hadn't been bitten by the zombie.

Suddenly, more growls were heard again. Both men turned and watched as more zombies lurked over to them – at least a crowd of twenty. "We got company." Marshal stated. "That gunshot attracted them."

"Then let's get moving." Domino impatiently said to his partner. The two ran back down the highway, dashing through puddles of water mixed with blood as they went. They managed to outrun the mob of zombies as they halted back at the site. Domino went over to trunk of the police cruiser. He placed the toolkit on the hood of a nearby crashed car, and opened it. Out of it, he pulled a screwdriver and a hammer. Marshal glanced over. "You know that thing is most definitely going to have a car alarm."

"Yeah, I know." Domino replied. "I'll have to be quick about it."

"I'll cover you as always." Marshal stated.

Domino nodded. "Don't feel too conservative. Use your sidearm when they begin to swarm." he declared.

"Do not worry, I already know." he claimed, slightly annoyed at his partner's lecturing.

"Alright, alright." Domino impatiently responded. "You ready?"

Marshal nodded. Domino looked back to the trunk of the police cruiser. He fit the tip of screwdriver into the lock, and jiggled it around a bit until it was jammed in. Marshal anxiously watched the works of his partner, and held tightly onto his metal rod, for he knew he would be using very soon. Domino looked up to Marshal, and received a nod in return. "Here we go." he muttered. He pulled the hammer back and slammed it into the screwdriver. Almost instantly, the police cruiser's car alarm began to blaze aloud. "Keep your eyes open!" Domino shouted to Marshal. He hit the hammer several more times, and kept readjusting the hammer in the lock. Finally, with one last powerful swing, the lock of the trunk had busted. He lifted the trunk, and swiftly searched its content. Inside, he found exactly what they wanted: a shotgun. In addition, he also spotted a medical kit. He took the medical kit and placed it under his trench coat. He went for the shotgun next, but noticed it was secured tightly with a lock attached in the trunk. "Bastard.." he muttered to himself, and took the screwdriver to the lock. Unfortunately, it was too large for the lock. He tossed it aside and whipped out his blade and began to fiddle with the lock.

Marshal spotted several lurkers beginning to creep up out of the shadows. "We got company, Domino. How's that going in there?" he shouted to his partner.

"Dealing with a lock here. Give me some time!" he shouted back as he desperately attempted to bust the lock.

"We don't have all day." he replied. He hastily looked around, and watched as the zombies lurked closer. "Fuck it." he seethed and ran towards the nearest one. With one clean swipe, he took the lurker down before it could even react. It had started to growl as blood leaked from the indent in its head. It began to prepare to stand, when suddenly Marshal's boot came crashing down. Its head literally exploded, and cloaked his boot in scarlet. He wiped his boot, which was covered with guts and blood, onto the wet street. He suddenly twisted around, and stabbed into the head of the next lurker. It dropped to the ground without any further retaliation. Marshal then quickly hopped back towards Domino. He noticed that approximately twenty zombies had began to encircle. "How's that coming?" he shouted to his partner.

"I'm getting there.." he muttered, somewhat hopelessly. Out the corner of his eye, he saw a lurker coming up behind him. He left the knife hanging in the shotgun's lock and grabbed the screwdriver from the trunk. He twirled around and pricked the lurker in the side of the head. Domino followed up with two jabs, causing the lurker to fall to the ground. Another one came at him, and pushed it back with his foot. He looked to Marshal, whom was killing lurkers left and right with his metal rod. "I need you to cover me!" Domino shouted to him. "Use your sidearm!"

"Alright!" he shouted and dropped the metal onto the ground. It clanged and made a racket. Marshal then took his pistol out of its holster and aimed it at the nearest lurker, and took one shot at its head. It dropped immediately.

Domino turned back around, and saw the lurker coming back at him. He quickly jabbed the screwdriver into its face – more specifically its eye socket. As it squirmed for its life, Domino noted its appearance. It was once a female, but its hair was seemingly rotten. Like the rest of the zombie, the hair had died, hence it having its faded gray color. Domino shoved the zombie away and it fell back. He ran over to the car trunk, and began to fiddle with the shotgun's lock once again.

Marshal took aim at another lurker, and fired into its head. As it dropped, he took aim at another, and did the same. Soon, after a few shot, he found himself reloading. As he did, one closed gap between them and grabbed onto his shoulder and arm. Startled, he attempted to shoot it in the face, but ended up missing in the struggle. As the lurker tried to push into him, Marshal noticed that its jaw was broken and was suspended from its mouth. Blood was dripping, and its teeth were showing. It desperately attempted to bite into Marshal's flesh. Meanwhile, several other lurkers began to walk over to them. "Domino, back me up." he ordered his partner. He received no response, and shouted; "Domino! I could use some support here!" The lurker pinned him against one of the crashed vehicles. He attempted to push it off of him, but he could not. He could not even pull the gun up to shoot it. Two lurkers quickly came up to them and joined the rave. Marshal managed to shoot the in the ankle, causing it to collapse. As it crawled towards him, he attempted to take aim, but found great difficulty due to the other two lurkers pushing up on him. The one directly in front of him attempted to bite into his face, and his only safeguard was his arm holding it back. Meanwhile, the other had taken a bite out of his trench coat. Marshal fired four shots in the chaos, and finally managed to hit the crawling zombie. He took aim at the next one's ankles, and pulled the trigger. Click, click, click. The sound of the gun lacking bullets filled the air. "Domino..!" he shouted again.

A sound of thunder cracked through the air. The head of the zombie in front of himself had exploded, causing brains and guts and blood to flow through the air, most landing on Marshal. At the same, several holes went into the other lurker's head, and its dropped to the ground. Marshal, who was in shock, looked over to the source of it.

Domino cocked the shotgun. "Remington 870." he stated. "Now we are in business." he grinned evilly. Marshal reloaded a fresh magazine into his pistol. The two armed men took aim at the surrounding zombies.

Domino, still retaining his malicious smirk, looked to Marshal and said aloud; "Let us clean up."


End file.
